


A Manager For Rockstars

by CourtyardJester



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Blood and Injury, Bodyswap, Gore, Implied/Referenced Child Death, Mild Gore, More tags will be added when needed, Multi, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, There's so many characters I can barely keep track, next gen children, semi graphic deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 23:43:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 47,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20629508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtyardJester/pseuds/CourtyardJester
Summary: One final attempt to bring the name ‘Fazbear’ into the limelight. After decades of rumors, murder, and controversy, Fazbear Entertainment will try one last time to squash any rumors of what happened back in its early years by opening one last location. ‘Freddy’s Rockstar Family Fun Center’ located in Saint George, Utah in the year 2019.The animatronics are updated with state of the art AI and mechanical prowess to allow them to act just like they were another human being... but that may lead to more problems then solutions when you find out that old habits die hard.





	1. Choose Your Player

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was created at the beginning of 2019 before the new FNAF games were announced. Think of this as an alternate timeline fic. (You can also find this fic on Quotev under the same name by the user 'BerryBounce'). This is rated M due to later chapters.

Mini Table of Acronyms:

(Y/N) - Your Name (first name)

(L/N) - Last Name

(H/C) - Hair color

(E/C) - Eye Color

(C/D) - College Degree (History, Libral Arts, Biology, ext)

(F/C) - Favorite color

  


* * *

  


** _‘Too young’_ **

  


** _‘Too scene…’_ **

  


** _‘Didn’t they get fired from the nineteen-ninety-three location?’_ **

  


A name, a face, a flaw, next!

No one he looked at would fit what he was looking for. Damn Zip Recruiter. Whatever happened to turning in physical resumes and job applications? People relied on technology too much nowadays. What happened to the early 2000’s?! Those were the best days! The man sighed and skimmed through the many other profiles that were sent to him, becoming increasingly frustrated at time went on. This last position needed to be filled by that weekend and he still had no feel for any of these ‘qualified’ candidates.

The man ran a hand down his face. He was tired. It was late. He was close to throwing in the towel. That was until something caught his eye. A simple looking name, but one he hadn’t seen before. (Y/N)(L/N). The man sat up slightly as he pulled the profile up. The image that came up was of a young adult female with long (H/C) hair straightened and flowing down her shoulders with soft (E/C) eyes. She wore a pink colored button-up top and had a small yet lovely smile on her face. She seemed to look the part.

The man took his time looking over her online resume. She had a good 6 years of job experience in all sorts of areas. Hospitality, child care, retail, culinary… She was all over the place in what she knew. It was just what he was looking for! Just one last check. The small bit about who they were. Who (Y/N)(L/N) was. Scrolling up slightly to look just below her picture.

  


** ‘Born and raised in Farmington, Utah, I’ve always been taught that in order to be successful in life, I need to be able to excel in multiple areas of work. I’m an active member of society, a great listener, and I pay attention to detail. I’m 22 Years if age and am currently down in St. George attending Dixie State College to gain my Associates Degree in (C/D) to hopefully further myself academically and socially. **

** If you need references from past employment, feel free to contact me. I take online classes so my schedule is highly flexible. **

** Thank you!’ **

  


A smile spread on the man’s face and he clicked on the link to the young woman’s e-mail address and got to work typing up a formal and official sounding job seeking opportunity. It may not be what the woman dreamed of doing, but it was a good job nonetheless in his opinion. Reading and rereading what he’d wrote, he added a few more flourishes to the cybernetic mail and sent it off.

The clock on the illuminated screen read ‘11:34PM’ as he shutdown the computer tower for the night and heaved himself off his seat. He wasn’t as young as he used to be, he’d agree with anyone on that. Why he decided to try and redeem this accursed name, he’d never truly answer. He was certain of one thing though;

  


He’d be damned if he didn’t think this plan would allow the name ‘Fazbear Entertainment’ to be shed in a new light would work, or his name wouldn’t be Scott Cawthon.

  


——————-

  


You were just about to fall asleep when a soft jingle from your charging phone alerted you to a new email. You grumble to yourself and roll over back into your back and feel around for where you left it on your nightstand. Once in hand, you sat up and unlocked the device by tapping in your password after touching the ‘Gmail’ banner. You rub your eyes with the sleeve of your unoccupied hand before reading what popped onto your screen.

  


**‘To: [xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com](mailto:xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com)**

**From: [ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org](mailto:ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org)**

  


**Subject: Interview scheduling**

  


**Dear Ms. (L/N),**

  


**Hello, Hello! My apologies for it being so late. I couldn’t for the life of me get to sleep. I have a family center opening up this weekend and I’m still missing a key position that is in desperate need of being filled and I believe you are the right lady for the job! I was given your information via a job recruiting site, so I hope you don’t mind that.**

  


**I can give you more details about the job if you’d like to set up a job interview for tomorrow? Maybe around the afternoon? The job will pay on a bi-weekly paycheck starting at $10.25/hour with a pay raise every 90 days so you could make up to $15 by the final pay raise. The position is a full-time with benefits 6 days a week. If you’re interested or you have another line of work, please email me back as soon as possible.**

  


**Thank you,**

**Mr Scott Cawthon**

**Fazbear Entertainment**

**Phone: (385) XXX-XXXX**

**Fax: (385) XXX-XXXX’**

  


As you read the email, you slipped out of bed and flipped on the lamp on your nightstand. _‘I actually totally forgot I made an account to find work. I should delete that later…’ _you thought to yourself as you read the first part of the short email. The subject caught your attention though. A Job interview?

You read the next half.

_‘Tomorrow?! Shit! That’s like…’ _You paused to think, _‘In twentyish minutes…?’ _

Yeah, that seemed about right. You can’t really math when you’re tired. You let out a yawn and hit the reply button.

  


**‘To: [ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org](mailto:ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org)**

**From: [xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com](mailto:xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com)**

  


**Subject: RE: Interview scheduling**

  


**Hey Mr Cawthon,**

  


**Tomorrow afternoon sounds great! I actually don’t have a job currently. I’m currently cruising on student loans and a prayer. I could make it over around 1:35PM if that’s alright with you, I’d just need to know the address of where I’m to meet you.**

  


**Thanks!**

  


**(Y/N)(L/N)’**

  


You sent the short reply back to whoever this guy was and put your phone back where it was and looked around the lamp-lit room you sat in. You’d moved down to Saint George around half a year ago into a one bedroom apartment you had saved up for as you hadn’t wanted to pay for student housing. Half because you didn’t want a roommate, but also because you had a pet and this place allowed their tenants to have a pet or two as long as they weren’t huge.

You had a male Pastel Morph Ball Python named Finch whom you loved to pieces. He was a good boy. Sassy, but good. You bought him a year ago at a Reptile Expo and didn’t tell your parents. They kind of just found out one day. They’d been mad at first (seeing as the family already had a cat/dog) but quickly warmed up to him. Your mom especially liked him, calling him her ‘grandsnake’. She was sad to see him and her only daughter leave. Your dad was also sad, but not for the snake. You were his little girl! This was your first time out of the house and into the real world! Your first home outside the one you grew up in. You promised you’d visit when you could!

You also had two brothers. Both older than you. They were basically your best friends growing up, but you’d grown apart as time went on, as it usually happens with siblings, you guys stayed in touch though and always shared the latest memes just to check in as a ‘I’m alive, don’t worry’ to one another while also getting a good laugh from time to time. That ‘Surprised Pikachu’ meme still gets you in the funny bone every time.

You shake your head and chuckle to yourself. You need to stop with the internal monologuing when there’s sleep to be had. Besides, you had a job interview tomorrow. Stretching your arms and popping your back, you set an alarm on your phone, set it back down, turned the lamp off once more and curled back up into bed. You turned back onto your stomach and soon let sleep overtake you once again.


	2. Some Boring Stuff and A Coworker

**BEEP**

**BEEP**

**BEEP**

**BEE-**

You grumble as your hand scrambles to shut off the alarm you set hours ago. The time now? 9:25AM. You glared at the time on the screen and scrolled through the banners of activity from apps on your phone. Game app lives refreshed. A text from someone in one of your classes… a few emails. Wait…

You sit up from your blanket burrito state, resting your back against the headboard. Did that guy reply to your reply? You’d check in just a second. You focused your attention to the text for a moment. Patrick was asking about the English group project’s due date. Aw piss.

You got up and searched for your book bag and flipped through a day planner you kept to try and send this guy an answer. The fun thing about group projects; due dates and rush jobs. You had luckily finished your part of the project, you just needed to send it over. You shook your head and found your answer, a week away. You let out a yawn and replied to the text.

_‘Next week on (Date). I have my portion finished. Want me to send it over to you can add it in?’_

A few seconds go by and you get a response.

_‘That’d be great. Thanks (Y/N).’_

You smile and set down your phone. You should get ready for the day. You had things to do. You go to rummage through your dresser. Damn, you needed to do laundry this week. Thank the Lord above you had black slacks in the very back of the third drawer. You grabbed them and tossed them onto your bed and moved to the closet to find a nice shirt. You curse under your breath about how many things you have hung up in the closet. 

Lots of cosplay dresses you haven’t touched in a year or two. Not what you need though.

You continue your search and finally find a nice (F/C) [sleeveless](https://www.trendywomen.com.au/products/newest-fashion-women-sleeveless-clothes-shirt-ladies-casual-summer-blouse-shirts-solid-o-neck-clothing) blouse crisscrossed in the back with a keyhole just below the neckline. It was pretty much screaming ‘date night classy’ as you held it up to your person. Hopefully it still fit. You’d only worn it once before when you were still into the dating scene. You gave up on finding someone after a few crazy dates. Might as well make this an interview shirt then.

Grabbing a few extra things, you went to the bathroom and hopped into the shower. As you washed your hair, your mind began to wonder. It went through a rolodex of things you needed to get done around the apartment. Dishes to wash, laundry to fold, a snake to feed. Being an adult friggin sucked. You finish up, dry yourself, and change into your pick out clothes; tossing your pjs into the hamper near the door of your bedroom. Using the towel, you wrap your hair up and go check your phone once more.

9:54AM… dammit.

This was gonna be a long day.

You let out a sigh before jumping slightly as your phone pinged and a new banner showed up for your Gmail. You opened your phone and made your way to your email to look through it. Then you see it. The reply from the guy who wanted to schedule your job interview.

**‘To: [xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com](mailto:xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com)**

**From: [ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org](mailto:ScottyPhoneMeUp@fazbear.entertainment.org)**

**Subject: RE:RE: Interview scheduling**

**Ms (Y/N),**

**Of course! That’s a perfect time! We’re located near the Vasa Fitness at 484 N. Mall Drive. Super hard to miss! We’ll be opening in three days, so I’ll be inside along with other employees that are getting a feel for the place. Just ask for me, someone will escort you to my office. I look forward to meet you!**

**Mr Scott Cawthon**

**Fazbear Entertainment**

**Phone: (385) XXX-XXXX**

**Fax: (385) XXX-XXXX’**

You feel a rush of nerves shoot through you. This was a thing. This is it. This was a real thing! Your phone was thrown back onto your bed and you shake your body out as if you had the chills. You haven’t had a job since before you moved down here. Interviews were always a nerve wracking thing to you. You never knew what the interviewer was like or how strict they were until you really met them, but Mister Cawthon seemed chill from how he wrote his emails.

You let out a few deep breaths and calm yourself down. You know how anxious you get if you continue to freak out over things. You had a few hours to kill and you had a few things to do before you had to leave, there was no time for worry! With that in mind, you got to work on what you had to do.

——————

The time is now 12:30PM. You’d gotten the dishwasher going, done three loads of laundry, fed Finch, and cleaned his terrarium while you waited for him to finish it up so you could put him back into his enclosure. You were currently in the process of folding clothes while watching some YouTube videos on your phone. You aren’t watching anyone specific; mostly just hopping between a handful. Markiplier’s playthrough of ‘The Park’, Snake Discovery catching giant goldfish to feed to their reptiles, CinemaSins… just whatever was on your recommended feed. It kept you occupied while your hands finished up folding a pair of pants.

By the time it was 1:00PM, you were putting the laundry you got done into your dresser. You still had a little bit of a pile left, but you’d finish up once you got home. For now, you needed to make sure you had everything you needed before heading out.

Phone? Check.

Wallet? Check.

Sunglasses? Yup.

Keys? Double check.

Jacket? You paused and thought about it. You’ll bring it just in case. You check your phone clock once more. 1:07PM. If you left now, you’d get there with a good 10-12 minutes to spare.

“Alright Finch! I’m off! Keep the house safe! I’ll be back soonish! Love you my little noodle ball!” You call to the snake as you slipped your phone and wallet into your pockets and grabbed your red college logo’d jacket, throwing it onto one of your shoulders. You never minded that Finch didn’t have ears to hear your praises or coos, but that never stopped you from talking to him.

You grabbed your keys from your kitchenette counter, slipped your shoes on and left your apartment, locking the door behind you. The sun was shining, a few scattered clouds in the sky. A perfect day in your opinion. You flip on your sunglasses and make your way to the roadside curb to your car. A slightly older model of Jeep colored a sage green color. You saved up two paychecks to buy that custom color and you loved it.

Once inside and comfortable, you began your drive to your given destination. As you drove, you looked around. The red rocks always looked beautiful against the tanned sands and patches of greenery around the city. You watched college students walking to and from the campus nearby and the occasional dog walker with their pet sniffing a tree or bush. You got to the freeway and merged with the other travelers, breezing through the light traffic towards the mall and the newly made establishment.

You got there in the time frame you thought you’d be there and just stared at the outside of the building. ‘FREDDY’s ROCKSTAR FAMILY FUN CENTER’ plastered on the sign hanging from the front of the building; a band of furry animals within the half-circle of the sign. You probably should have looked up the name of the company before coming over. This place kind of looked like a Chuck-E-Cheese. You take a minute to reevaluate your life, sigh, and get out of the car.

You make your way to the front doors and peak inside of the glass doors. You could make out a front desk along with a few fun looking signs about an extended food menu and a variety of game options for the whole family. You almost don’t notice someone noticing you and walking over to open a side door just off of the glass sliding ones you were looking through.

“Can I help you miss?” A male voice asks, making you look over to the sound. They looked to be in their early 20s like yourself. They were slightly pudgy with shaggy dark ginger hair and honey colored eyes hiding behind half-circle glasses.

“I- um… y-yeah, Yeah!” You brushed out your outfit and gave an embarrassed smile. “I’m here for a job interview with Mister Cawthon. Is he in?”

The ginger nodded. “ ‘should be in his office. You the one-thirty-five?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Follow me.”

He held the door open for you as you scrambled passed him and into the building, allowing you to fully take in your surroundings. The door you slipped into lead into a small hallway that lead to the front entrance. It was most likely for employees to get inside if they had the morning shift. The walls were splashed with various colors on a white background. Blues, greens, yellows… there were many. 

Beyond the front counter was a main dining room with tables and booths in front of a large staging area. There were archways with colored frames indicating branched off locations to other areas of the place, though you couldn’t make out what. You guess you’d find out soon. Looking back to the dining area, you did see a group of four people talking to one another. About what? You couldn’t hear from where you were.

The guy that let you in brushed passed you and gestured for you to follow him as he made his way into the dining area, but kept to the left side. You followed close behind him. You could hear the muffled conversations I’ve down slightly as you passed and you snuck a glance towards the table. A quick one, but a glance nonetheless. Two males and two females all around the same age. Wait… did one have a phone for a head?

“Keep up. Mister Cawthon doesn’t like people being late.” The male you were following piped up, jarring you from where you seemingly stopped. He was standing between two archways where a starred sign reading ‘Band Members Only’ hung on a door that almost blended into the wall stood.

He opened the door and lead you into yet another short hallway that branched off to the right into a common room with three doors, on the left wall and one on the wall straight ahead.

“His office is that lone door right there. Just knock.”

The male turned to leave and you piped up.

“Wait. I didn’t get your name!”

He looked back to you.

“Name’s Luca. Luca Smith.”

He didn’t wait for your reply as he left through the hallway once more and back into the dining area, leaving you alone. You swallow the lump in your throat and made your way towards the door pointed out to you and paused in front of it. You take a few seconds to calm yourself down, then knock. A few seconds pass as you hear the sound of a chair and footsteps. The door opens to a man and you hear;

“Ah, you must be Miss (L/N). Glad to see you’re a few minutes early. Come on in!”


	3. An Interview and A Family

The man standing before you looked to be about late 50s early 60s. You couldn’t truly tell with that red phone head of his. The rotary dial and chipped paint kind of gave it away though. The grey suit he was wearing seemed to be tailored to fit his lanky form quite nicely.

“I’m glad to see you got here a few minutes before.” He continued as he let you into his office. There wasn’t much in the room save for a desk, swivel chair and computer. There was a bookshelf in the back right corner though along with two black seats in front of the desk.

“Take a seat Miss (L/N) and we can get started.”

Nodding, you walk over to one of the seats in front of the desk and sit down. The phone-headed man takes a seat in his chair and he looks to you, his hands clasped together and resting on top of the desk. You give a small smile and you hear him chuckle.

“You look a bit different from your picture.” He comments.

“Yeah, that’s an old picture.” You reply. “Haven’t really gotten around to getting some new pictures taken. You know… life and all that.”

“Indeed. Again, I’m glad I found your profile. You seem to be qualified for the job.”

You blush. “Uh, thanks, Mister Cawthon… I um…” You clear your throat. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I wasn’t really told anything about this job other than the pay… any reason why?”

If a phone could look like they’re trying to find the right words to use, you were looking at it.

“Ah, well. I felt it would be better to tell you in person as it’s sort of hard to explain without you physically being here.” He opens a drawer and rummages through it, pulling out a pen and a blue file folder. He flips through the folder and pulls out a few pages, setting them on the table. He slides the folder back into the drawer and spreads the pages out in front of you. There were six in total. Each contained a picture and many a word.

“You’ll have time to look through these if you take the job, but here’s the rundown.” He sat the pen he was holding onto the desk and sat back. “Do you know anything about interactive audio animatronics?”

You cocked your head. “Like the ones they have at the Tiki Room in Disneyland?” You shrug. “I guess.”

“Well, sort of.” He looked to you. “Those ones perform a routine programmed into their systems. It’s the name one over and over again, but they’re usually ‘voice activated’.” The last words were emphasized with air quotes. “But we all know the ones at Disneyland are activated with the press of a button. I’m talking about fully interactive animatronics that have the capacity to carry out full conversations. Have a wide range of emotions. Animatronics that learn with each passing day.”

“Then I guess you lost me, sir.” You reply.

“That’s alright, (Y/N).” He answered back. “These are quite a new age thing. I spent quite a lot of money to get these made and shipped here.”

He leaned over and took the pen once more into his hand and tapped the page on the far left, using the other hand to tap the far right page. “These right here are those animatronics. I want you to be the one who helps them learn and grow. Your job will be to interact with them and help them interact with employees and customers alike. Be a sort of… manager to them.”

He could see the look of confusion on your face and he sighed. “Let me explain. Freddy and his band,” He gestured to the first four pages with pictures of a bear, a rabbit, a chicken, and a fox, “are the stars of this place. Hence the name. They’re programmed to sing, preform, and entertain. Every band needs a manager to keep them on task and focused, but to also make sure they’re alright and able to safely interact with the world around them. You get it so far?”

You nod and he continues. “Not only are you going to be interacting with them, but there are also three others.” His focus goes to the next page, as does yours. It had the picture of an odd looking creature with a white face, blue and red face paint, and white stripes covering a black body. “Security Puppet is there to help maintain the peace and to make sure kids are following the rules. Lastly, there’s Rover and Ranger.”

The last page your gaze fell to had a picture with two cream colored dog animatronics with hats on their heads and cameras in their hands. “They’re known as ‘The Pupperazzi’ it’s a play on the word paparazzi. My good friend Mike came up with that one.” The pun got a chuckle from you.

“He sounds like he’s fun at parties.” You quip.

“He is a riot, trust me… anyway, back to these two.” He gestured back to the page. “Like a lot of celebrities, the band has these two to deal with, which means you have to deal with them. They want pictures and to sabotage the band in anyway they can, but they also run their own ‘studio’ where the kids can go to have fun and express themselves. You just need to make sure the peace is kept here between each of the animatronics. Sound good?”

You nod. It seemed easy enough. He reached his hand over and you took it in a firm handshake. Once broken, he scooped up the papers and gave them to you.

“Study these so you can get a sense of how each of these guys interact with the world. They’ll come in handy. Welcome to the family Miss (L/N), let’s get you set up and started if that’s alright with you. We need to go over what you’ll wear as well as hours. Like I said over email, this is a full time job so you’ll work from open to close Monday through Saturday. We’re closed Sundays.”

He went on to explain that you could wear black slacks, but the blouses must be button ups of any solid color. Sleeve length didn’t matter. Your shoes had to be non-sipping and you’d wear a red vest with four golden stars on the back in a diamond pattern with your name tag on it. You’d also carry around a clipboard with the animatronics ‘schedule’ on it along with various other papers with the rules of the establishment along with emergency codes and such ‘just in case’.

You were lead out of his office and given the rundown of where things were. The break room had bathrooms with a shower built into each one just in case it was needed. There was also a small kitchen area to store and keep lunches along with a vending machine for snacks. He lead you back into the main bulk of the building.

“I need to get back to my office for a bit, but my daughter can give you the rest of the tour.” He told you. “Violet! Can you come here?” He called out.

The thing you see next is the phone head you noticed earlier pop up from the dining area and make their way over. Their head was a nice faded purple with white numbered buttons instead of a rotary on the base. They wore a pink short-sleeve blouse and black slacks along with their name tag hooked to the left side of her shirt. You also noticed wrap bandages around her neck.

“Yes father?” Came a soft and calming voice.

“This is (Y/N)(L/N). She’ll be working with the animatronics. Would you be an angel and show her around? I have some more things to do in my office.”

The lady nods and stuck her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, (Y/N). I’m Violet. Let me show you around.”

You shook her hand and she lead you to the right to continue your tour.

She showed you where the younger children could play. The soft blues and greens of the walls and floor made the plush play place and drawing tables stand out. The next place was the party room families could book for the day. She lead you across the dining area to the other side where the arcade and prize corner were. She explained that instead of tickets, everyone who comes here gets a card to store point on. Different amounts of points get you different prizes.

What caught your attention was that in the prize corner, there was a blue present with red ribbon that stood about four feet in height.

“That’s SP. You’ll meet them soon.” Violet told you. You looked to her.

“What about the other robots?”

“They prefer animatronics.” She corrected. “The Pupperazzi will be here tomorrow and the band are in Parts and Services getting their final checks done.”

“Oh.”

“Come on. I still have to show you the laser tag arena that’s upstairs.”

“Y’all got laser tag?”

“What family fun center doesn’t have laser tag?!”

“Fair point.”

Instead of a brief tour, you and Violet ended up having a one on one laser tag battle to which she won. The arena upstairs was about as big as this entire building which was impressive. There were places to climb, duck under and hide in, allowing all sorts of game play. You two sat in the waiting area and just talked after that. The phone-headed woman told you she was 30 years old and that she used to be a nanny in Nevada until her dad asked her to work here as a manager. The family she worked for was quite sad to see her go, but she still kept in touch with them.

It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat in your direction that the two of you looked over to see a grey skinned female with charcoal grey hair in a low side ponytail. Her eyes were a deep blue color and her makeup was black. She wore a red and yellow waitress uniform and had an unamused expression plastered across her face. She looked to be slightly older than you, but not by much.

“I was wondering where you ran off to after your dad called you away from the table, Vi.” Her voice sounded just as unenthusiastic. “This the new hire Luca mentioned?”

“Ah! Yes! Sorry Emily, we got caught up in… talking.” The two of you stood up and you followed Violet over to the grey skinned lady. “This is (Y/N)(L/N). (Y/N), this is Emily Schmidt. She’s gonna be a waitress here.”

“Yeah, and I can’t wait to rest when I get home.” Emily added with a slight smirk on her face now. If you could stare into a camera like you were in The Office, you would. Violet sighed.

“Kind of a stretch there, Em.”

“Yeah, I’ll work on it eventually. Welcome to the family, (Y/N). Hope you’re ready for screaming kids and inattentive parents this weekend.”

Your smile faulted. “I guess so. This place seems kind of understaffed for a grand opening.” You commented. Emily’s expression dropped back to an unamused one.

“The other hires are gonna be here tomorrow for a brief rundown of jobs and to see the animatronics. We’re all here ‘cause we’re all in quote-unquote ‘bigger positions’.” She shoved her hands in her apron pockets. “That and we all carpooled down here to just hang out or get away from our parents for a bit.”

You cocked your head to the side. “You guys all know each other?”

Violet nodded. “We’ve all been friends since we were babies. Our dads all worked together when they were younger, so naturally we all grew up together.”

“Has she met everyone?”

“Not yet. Might as well go introduce her.”

“Right. Come on newbie. You got boys to meet.” Emily hooked her arm with yours and dragged you along. Violet let out a sound of protest and quickly followed after you two.

“You briefly met Luca. He’s shy in the form of being standoffish, but he’s a total dork once he warms up to you.” The waitress explained as she pulled you along. “The other two are twins, Asher and Andrew Fitzgerald. Easily flustered, but nice.”

She lead you back to the dining area where said twins were talking to one another in hushed whispers. They looked to be around your age and identical in looks. Messy brown hair, blue security guard uniforms. The only real difference between the two were their faces. One; the marks on their faces. One had a question mark instead of eyes and a nose. The other’s question mark was upside down. As you approached with the two females, they turned to look at you. They smile at you three and you also notice the one with the reverse question mark was missing a tooth.

“Hey!”

“You’re new.”

You give a small nod. “I’m (Y/N). Nice to meet you two.”

Each male gets up and takes one of your hands to shake it. “Nice to meet you too, (Y/N)!” They said in unison. Violet looked around for a second before piping up.

“Where’s Luca?”

“Finishing with making sure Freddy and his gang are in tip top shape!” Asher responded. Andrew nodded in confirmation.

“Alright…” Violet looked to you. “(Y/N), you should probably become acquainted with Luca a bit more as you two will be working a bit closer together.”

“Right…” You respond.

Emily pulls you over towards a door near the right side of the stage labeled ‘Parts and Services: Band Members Only’. She let go of your hand and looked to you. “You might as well go see him by yourself so he doesn’t feel trapped with all of us in there. Good luck newbie.”

With a pat to your shoulder she opened the door for you and you walked inside. The hallway was dimly lit save for a speck of light at the end of it to the right. Emily shut the door behind you and left you alone. You felt a pit form in your stomach with how eerie this hallway felt and took a minute to compose yourself before starting your walk. Your shoes clicking with each step as you listened to the faint sound of muttered talking. What waited for you in the light was up for debate, but you hoped you weren’t walking in on certain doom.


	4. You're in The Band

You turn the sharp corner and drink in what you see. The first thing to see is the curly mop of ginger hair with his back to you. He seemed to be working on a yellow robot with its back open; exposing wires and blinking lights. His face was looking down at something in his hands.

“Alright Chica, only a few more calibrations and you’ll be ready to go.” Luca commented as he tapped on what he was holding. “Can you raise your left hand?”

It took a few seconds, but the animatronic does so.

“Good. Lower it back down and raise your right hand.”

Slowly but surely, it happens.

“Great.” More tapping. “Outstretched both arms and wiggle your fingers.”

You lean against the archway frame and watch as Chica continues to follow Luca’s instructions. He seemed to be so calm in this situation. This had to be a passion of his. You were so focused on just watching the other human in the room that you didn’t notice three pairs of eyes on you. Blue, green, and yellow. 

“Who are you? A new friend miss?”

The baritone voice that spoke made you and Luca jump. The male almost dropped what he was holding and spun around to face you, a shocked expression of his flustered face.

“Don’t sneak up on me!” Luca shouted at you. You raised your hands in a defensive ‘calm yourself’ motion.

“The others told me to come properly introduce myself… and I’m sorry, but who said that?”

“That would be me, Miss.” The low tone voice spoke up again. It came from the periwinkle bunny animatronic resting in a chair, a leg resting on its knee as they watched you. They got up and walked over towards you, making you stiffen up slightly. He extended a hand towards you. “Sorry to have startled you miss. My name’s Bonnibel, but you can call me Bonnie. What’s your name?”

You snap out of your frozen state and take his hand as a courtesy as you shake hands. “I’m (Y/N)(L/N). I’m the new manager for the animatronics.”

His eyes lit up as he gave you a smile. “Well that’s fantastic! Every band needs a manager, right Freddy?”

A brown bear walked over and nodded. “He’s right and you look like you’ll fit the part amazingly!” His voice was lighter and more of a tenor tone. He took your hand from Bonnie and lead you inside to a plush chair and had you take a seat so he could get a good look at you. Freddy leaned in close and crouched down slightly to be on your eye level which made you squirm slightly at his closeness.

“Yar, give the lads some space Freddy. Yer making ‘er uncomfortable.” Came a calming voice. The bear did so, muttering an apology to you as another character walked over. A red fox with a pirate motif; peg leg and all. A bird on his shoulder looked at you with a tilted head and a squawk. 

“The name’s Foxy, lass. This is me bird, Polly. A pleasure t’ meet ya.”

“L-likewise F-foxy.” You stutter out. He chuckles and ruffles your hair. “I’m guessing Chica is that one?” You asked, gesturing to the animatronic chicken startling at you through peripheral vision.

“You got that right, darlin’!” The alto on the table replied to you. “Luca! Be a dear and unlock my neck so I can look at this new little dish!”

Chica’s voice snaps Luca out of his fidgeting disassociating and he quickly does so, shutting her back with a click. The sound of air escaping a small space and the chicken’s head turns to look at you. Pink eyes locking to (E/C) as she looks you over. She looks to the redhead.

“Am I ready to move?”

Luca nods. “Y-Yeah, I’ll… I’ll see myself out.”

“Nonsense kid! She’s in the family now! Ya gotta make friends!” She loops her arms around the mechanic who let out a yelp as she carried him over against his will. She set him by you and she grinned. “There we go! Two peas in a pod!”

You look at Luca and you notice he’s staring at the ground, tablet in his arms and seeming to be on the verge of tears. You could tell he didn’t want to be in here right now and you felt your heart hurt. You had to do something. You stood up which made the animatronics back up.

“Guys. Can’t you see he’s uncomfortable? Let him have his space and let him leave.” Your stern tone shocked even you as guilty looks washed over the faces of the anthropomorphic animals. You continued, “Now say sorry to him Chica.”

She looked to the floor and sighed before looking at Luca. “‘M sorry kid. I shouldn’t’ve made ya uncomfortable like this. Can ya forgive me?”

Luca wipes his eyes and nodded before running off and out of the room. You sigh and get out of the half circle. “Look. I’m gonna be in charge of you guys. I know you probably haven’t been around for long, but you gotta know how to respect people’s boundaries. You can learn and grow, but not by invading personal space, okay?”

You look to the group and they looked guilty, but were listening to your words. You set the papers you were carrying down on the now empty table and got a good look at the room. There were metal shelves and cabinets along the walls holding various mechanical components and colored shelling. There was a movable mechanics cart holding tools and wires and a coat hanger in the far left corner holding a few spare mechanic’s jumpsuits.

“Now… lets take a bit of time to get to know each other, okay?”

——————-

A few hours go by and you were having fun learning about the four animatronics. You learned that Freddy was the main face of it all, seeing as he was the biggest on the sign out front. He had a nice singing voice too. You learned that Chica loves to cook and played maracas, but also had a knack for drums when it was needed. Bonnie played both guitar and bass, but he preferred the later as he found it fun to find new rhythms. He also liked making up silly little songs.

Foxy was different though. Seeing as he only had one hand, he couldn’t play many instruments without fear of breaking them, so he stuck to playing an accordion or just singing sea shanties. He wasn’t much for newer songs like the others were, but he could carry a tune if needed. Polly also was able to hop off Foxy and move around like any bird could, but he didn’t like flying. Quite a lazy bird he is. He was currently preening his wings on your shoulder and although heavy, you didn’t really mind much. It was actually quite comforting having that weight there.

You told the animatronics in turn about your life and what you did in your spare time. You could cart a tune, but not as well as the rest of your family could. You rarely sung for anyone other then yourself. The four wanted to hear you sing, but you told them, ‘maybe at another time’. They found out your favorite color was (F/C) and that you had a pet snake whom you adored and would die for if you could.

You also learned that they knew quite a lot of songs ranging from one’s they made to one’s heard on the radio. They said that ‘Mister Cawthon wanted us to be able to give people a whole range of songs to listen to, not just songs for little kids’. Their song catalog had at least 230 well known, swear-free songs on it that were popular. That was good to know. It wasn’t until there was a knock on the archway to the room that you were told the time by your new boss.

“It’s six-thirty, (Y/N). It’s time to close up for the night.” He told you. The animatronics let out varying whines.

“Does she have to go, sir?” Freddy asked, ears flattened.

“I’m afraid so, Freddy. Don’t worry though, she can come back tomorrow.”

Your boss saying that lit the saddened moods of the animals right up as you stood up. Polly hopped off your shoulder and went back to Foxy. You walk over to Mister Cawthon and looked back to the animatronics.

“See you guys tomorrow.”

“Promise, Miss (Y/N)?” Freddy asked.

“I promise. Don’t worry.”

“We’ll be holdin’ ye t’ it lass!” Foxy stated.

“We still have so much to talk about!” Bonny added.

“Don’t be a stranger, ya hear?!”

“I won’t be Chica! I promise! Bye guys!”

With that said, you left with your boss to where the other five humans waited.

“Alright everyone! Other employees will be coming tomorrow, so Violet; you, Emily, and Luca have some work on your hands with showing new employees the ropes.”

The three nod at Scott’s words.

“Not to mention the last two animatronics are going to arrive here and will need a full calibration before they can roam around. I’m counting on all of you to make this orientation and training go off without a hitch.”

There’s a few more nods.

“Now, it's time for all of us to go home and get some well deserved rest! I’ll see you all here bright and early tomorrow. Seven AM sharp!” He looked to you. “Miss (L/N), I’ll bring your vest tomorrow so you can get used to wearing it.”

“Alright.”

Mister Cawthon gestured for everyone to head out and you all did, one by one. He locked the establishment up behind him and you all made your way over to your respected vehicles.

“Ah, (Y/N)? Can I talk to you?”

You look over and see Luca walking over, a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Um, sure. What’s up?”

He bit his lip and took a breath before replying.

“Thank you… for standing up for me. That… that was nice and really appreciated.”

You smile softly. “Of course. You looked really uncomfortable. You alright?”

“Yeah, Yeah, I’m okay.” He rubbed his arm and looked away. “Well, I’ll let you go… um… I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Right. Bye Luca.”

He ran back over to the car where his friends were waiting and they all waved goodbye to you. You waved back and got into your car, got comfortable, and drove away. As the sage Jeep left the parking lot, you failed to notice two white pinpricks watching you from the darkened interior of the fun center.


	5. The Pupperazzi

The next day rolled around too quickly in your opinion. You set in your Jeep, black tea in hand. You didn't enjoy coffee though you enjoyed the smell. You were more of a tea girl yourself. Besides, this one tasted like peppermint patties with the right amount of sugar. The time? 6:50AM. You hated waking up early, but what could you do?  
The sun was just barely peeking above the red rock hills as the sky turned a gradient of orange and pink. You liked watching the sunrise when you would get up early. It made you feel warm and happy. It also reminded you of home. As you watched the sky, another car rolled into the parking lot. A nice white Chevy parked near your jeep followed by a black SUV and a grey pickup truck. You remember the SUV was what Luca and his friends rode in together. You also knew that at least one of those other cars was your boss, but who was the other?  
You see Emily exit the SUV and storm towards the pickup, seeming upset. She walks to the drivers side and was now arguing with the person in the driver's seat. You couldn't see much, but you did catch a glimpse of the red beanie the person wore and their erratic gesturing. She was gesturing back and you could hear her voice grow slightly louder in volume.  
You bite your lip and exit your car, hearing the tail end of what she was saying.

“YOU DON'T ALWAYS NEED TO BE THERE TO ‘SEE ME OFF’ WITH EVERY FUCKING JOB I’VE HAD, DAD! I’M TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD!” She yelled. “I’M A FUCKING ADULT!”

You walked over the the SUV where the four others sat in awkward silence.

“So… Emily not like her dad?” You ask, the four exchange glances before Violet speaks up.

“No no, Em and her dad are close… but…”

“Buuuuuut?”

“Mister Schmidt can be a tad helicoptery. Especially when it comes to the name ‘Freddy Fazbears’.” Andrew finished. You tilted your head.

“What are you talking about? Isn’t it just a Chuck-E-Cheese?”

They looked at you, a look of shock and confusion on their faces.

“Wait, you’ve never heard of anything Freddy before this job?” Asher asked. You nodded, making the shock more prominent. 

“...Walk with me (Y/N).” Violet replied. “Guys, make sure Emily is okay.” The boys nod and the group exit the car, making their way over to the building. The three males branch off to where the waitress was to confront her while you walked with Violet. She looks back to make sure you were a good distance away from the small crowd before talking.

“(Y/N)... so… Fazbear Entertainment has been… alight with misfortune. This place right here,” She gestured to the building they stood by. “This is a last ditch effort to get the company out of the circle of bad luck that surrounds the name ‘Fazbear’.”

She looked to you, noticing your confused expression. “You see...every other location was closed down due to murder.” 

Your blood ran cold. _‘What the fuck?’_

“You into true crime?” She asked.

“I mean, I listen to true crime podcasts.” You replied.

“As do I, but this story will probably never be told on any of those. The ladies on My Favorite Murder might if they dig deep enough, but this was a story better left forgotten.” Even though the phone didn't have expressions, you could tell she was nervous to be talking about this. She was about to say more when her father came over to unlock the employee entrance.

“We’ll talk more later.” She whispered as she went inside. You followed after giving Mister Cawthon a sideways glance. Does everyone know but you?

—————

7:46AM.   
It hadn’t even been an hour and already new hires were coming in small waves and making their way into the dining area. As more and more people came into the fun center, you duck into the back where the band was. It felt a bit overcrowded with the few handfuls of hires and you needed some breathing room. It seemed that you weren’t the only person there as you see Luca fiddling with one of two crates that were in there along with the four animatronics talking idly among themselves.  
The first one to notice your presence was Polly who squawked happily and hopped over to see you. You bend down and extend your lower arm to him which he happily perches onto. His enthusiasm to see you again seemed to get to the other four as they happily made their way over to tell you ‘good morning’ and to ask how you slept. You answer their inquiries and ask for them to get ready as today was ‘rehearsal’ for the grand opening and quietly made your way over to the ginger haired young adult.

“Need a hand Luca?”

He looks over to you and gives a flustered smile.

“Y-Yeah. Could you help me get these open? They were wheeled in a few minutes ago.”

“Sure.”

He hands you the crowbar in his hands and goes to grab the spare.

“Ever pry a crate open before?” He asked as he walked back. You shook your head.

“Nah, I’ve only ever seen it done in movies or on tv shows.”

“Well be prepared for it to be ten times harder than it looks on the silver screen (Y/N).” He commented.

He showed you where to stick the tool you were given and to pull the crowbar towards yourself once the tool found purchase and together the two of you got the first crate open. Inside was a teal dog with floppy ears, light blue cheeks, and wearing a brown hat on its had. You also noticed an older looking camera nestled by its head. One of the Pupperazzi; though you didn’t know which one. You helped the ginger move the animatronic to the table so he could get to work opening it up and have it start working.  
As he worked on the first, you went to work opening the next crate. It took a little longer due to the fact it was just you, but you got it open. Inside was another dog animatronic, this time a shorter white dog with purple cheeks, a similar hat, and one folded ear while the other was pointed. Kinda cute if anyone were to ask you.

“Woah! Heck! Are we here?” A new voice asked. You look over and see that the real dog was awake and looking around, showing glimpses of pastel pink eyes.

“Where did you need to go?” Luca asked.

“Freddy’s Rockstar Family Fun Center.” They replied.

“Then you’re in the right place. Just give me a moment to fully calibrate you into the system.”

The dog let out a huff of confirmation and locked eyes with you. You were about to say something to him, but he looked passed you.

“There’s Ranger! Is he awake?” Asked the dog. You shook your head. That must mean this is Rover. Rover frowned.

“Why not? I’m awake. Why isn’t he?”

“Because I haven’t gotten to booting him up yet.” Luca replied, a slight annoyance to his voice, playing with the switches and knobs on the exposed endoskeleton of the dog. “Just give me a few minutes.”

—————

You leave The Parts and Service room after a few more minutes and you can hear Mister Cawthon talking to the hires gathered in the dining area. He thanks them all for coming and tells them how grateful he was that they could all make it. From where you were standing, you could see the majority of the hires and your boss’ back as he gestured wildly while he talked. Near the front, you could see Asher and Andrew muttering to one another, the question marks on their faces replaced with ellipsis that faded in and out like when someone is typing on an iPhone. Huh. Cool.  
As you watched, your mind wandered back to a few hours before. The name of the company made people feel on edge and you didn’t know why. Violet mentioned she’d talk to you later about it, but you made a note to look into it a bit more on your own time. You didn’t have much else to do. You were caught up in all your school work besides math. Lord almighty you hated math. You always procrastinate when it comes to it. What were you thinking about again?  
Oh right.  
The mystery behind your job.  
Note made and saved into the internal hard drive that was your mind.  
You stood there for a while, just thinking. You failed to notice your name being called until you heard the clap of hands in front of your face, making you jump. Your face flushed with embarrassment as you looked up at your boss who had walked over.

“You alright, Miss (L/N)?”

“Y-Yeah. What’s up, sir?”

“It’s time to show off the main attraction to the family.” He said, handing you your vest and gesturing to the crowd of said ‘family’ that was your new co-workers.

“R-right! I’ll go grab them!”

You run back to the room from whence you came and got the band’s attention.

“You’re up guys, let's introduce you to everyone!” 

“Finally! Time t’ fly the coop!”

“It’s not really flying when someone is willingly taking you somewhere, Chica.”

“I meant what I said! I ain’t gonna repeat myself!”

“No need to repeat Chica, we’ve got people to meet!”

“Yar! Enough of yer squabbling!”

You sigh as the band banters back and forth and look at Luca who was starting on the other pup. Rover was staying near Ranger as he was worked on and you smiled. Whether made in a factory or born, a dog is loyal no matter what. That made you happy. You shrug on the vest your boss gave you and whistled to get the band's attention. You grab the clipboard on the wall and look to the four.

“Best behavior. Don’t embarrass Mister Cawthon by being late. Grab your instruments, let’s go.” You say in quite a mature tone. Your voice catching you off guard again. That wasn’t your voice…. well… it sounded like you, but you usually don’t speak up like that. The animatronic band nodded, breaking the tiny banter and do as you ask, following you out of the room and into the main part of the building. The crowd of people hush as you walk back in.

“Everyone,” Mister Cawthon stated. “Please welcome the main stars of the show; Freddy Fazbear and his band; Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Fox!”

The hires clap and some cheer as the four come into view. The animatronics wave happily and your boss makes his way over to them. Each greeting the man in their own personal manners. The phone-headed man turns back to acknowledge the crowd.

“These animatronics, along with the other three animatronics you may encounter while working here are state of the art! Each programmed with AI that learns as time goes on. It observes its surroundings and adapts accordingly as long as it fits within each character’s personality.” He explained. “You’ll learn who they are just as they will with you, so let’s do our absolute best to all get along.”

—————

9:30AM.  
As orientation continued for the other hires, you slipped away from the group to get some breathing room once again. Not that you needed it this time, but you wanted to look around once more. You made sure to keep an eye on the band, or at least Bonnie as you could see his ears over the half wall from practically anywhere. You made your way back to The Pupperazzi Lounge and saw the teal and white dogs talking with one another.

“Hey pups.” You call to them, making them perk up and look to you. “Got a minute to talk?”

The two make their way over to you, smiles on their faces. Now that they stood side by side, you noticed that Ranger was slightly shorter than Rover; both were roughly to your shoulder standing up. Pastel pink and dark green staring at you curiously.

“What can we help you with, ma’am?” Rover asked.

“I wanna know more about you.” You reply. “I gotta learn about each of the animatronics here cause I’m kind of in charge of all of you.”

Ranger perks up even more. “Then you can help us?” He asked.

“Help you… with what?” You inquired back.

“With our jobs here!”

You looked between the two, a look of confusion on your face. What did they mean? You check your clipboard and flip through the pages on it to the page about the two. Skimming through it real quick, a few words pop out at you: Protection, surveillance, database… what the…?

“Um… could you guys enlighten me on what you’re programmed to do?” You ask, your eyes still glued to the page you flipped to.

“We teach kids about being creative!” Rover stated, “but we also teach them the importance of stranger danger and being able to tell people they trust if anything bad happens!”

“Not only that,” Ranger added, “our camera’s act as recording devices that the security guards can use as a sort of ‘boots on the ground’ type of thing if they make sense.”

Ah. So they were like walking security cameras. That’s good to know.

“Well, I’ll be sure to help you two when I can.” You say after their words process in your mind.

“Much thanks then Ma’am!” They say in unison.

“Please, call me (Y/N).”

“Alright! Thank you kindly (Y/N)!”

You nod and turn to leave just as a shutter goes through you as if something cold touched you. Your hand goes to the back of your neck and feel. Nothing. That was weird. A look of concern and confusion washed over your face and you continue walking.


	6. A Dream Of A Murderer

The day felt as if it went by so quickly. Talking with others of the ‘family’, hanging out with the animatronics, and making new acquaintances. It was mostly a blur until you got home. You made yourself some instant ramen and opened up your laptop as you sat on the couch of your little living room. You open up a word document and use it to take notes for what you were researching.

Freddy Fazbears. Fazbear entertainment…. a lot of ground to cover. You open a few tabs on (S/E) and get to work. Typing in a few key words and opening more tabs. You throw news articles and blog entries into a new internet window and once you feel like you have enough, you open the jumbled window, looking at the first thing there. A blog post.

_‘**FAZBEAR** **FRIGHT: A** **HORROR** **ATTRACTION** **DIVING** **INTO** **THE** **BLOODY** **PAST** **OF** **A** **CHILDREN’S** **FRANCHISE!**’_

_‘This time of year brings out the most terrifying things! Vampires, zombies, the boogeyman; enough things to fill your worst nightmares! Who would think that a Utah renown family friendly franchise would be apart of the horror. ‘Fazbear Fright’, located in Spanish Fork, Utah, brings us the terrifying truth behind the cute and cuddly animal friends that were Freddy and his friends!_

_The establishment is scheduled to open at the end of this week and will feature salvaged bits from past locations. I for one, am so excited! I hope to see you all there!’_

You frowned. This told you nothing. When was this from? You look it up and groan. 2003. Dammit MySpace. You open the next tab.

_‘**FAZBEAR** **FRIGHT** **UP** **IN** **FLAMES** **DAYS** **AFTER** **OPENING.** **1** **PERSON** **DEAD** **AS** **A** **RESULT**’_

_‘Just days after opening, ‘Fazbear Fright’ shut down after a mysterious fire burns the entirety of the establishment to the ground in a matter of hours. Nothing seemed to be salvageable from the wreckage. Through the charred remains of a human were found. Forensic experts are still trying to figure out what caused the fire and who this mysterious person is…’_

You stop reading. A mysterious person…? You jot down a few key things from the rest of the article and continue with your search. After a while, you stop and look at your notes. Names, faces, locations… It wasn’t much, but it was something. One name came to light a lot more than anything else. William Afton. It seemed like the original owner, Henry Emily, had a co-founder, and William was it.

A few things you found talked about him being suspect for the crimes that happened at every location. Hell, he was convicted of killing five children in the 1985 location, but he seemingly vanished when police went to arrest him. Maybe there was an Afton still around you could talk to? You’d need to look into that.

You check the clock on your computer and notice that you’d taken 4 hours just to research everything. You got home around 8:45PM. It was almost 1 in the morning. You had to be up in 5 hours. Dang. You toss your dirty dishes into the sink and make sure your laptop was shut off before getting ready for bed, setting your alarm, and passing out under your covers.

—————

You could hear the dull sounds of children’s cries of laughter as you walked through a darkened corridor. It sounded like they were all around and yet so far away that you’d never be able to reach the source. That was your thinking. There were drawings and posters on the walls of smiling creatures and children. There was something unsettling about the decor of the hallway. You found your way into the only lit room in the place where you see a purple skinned man looking nervously between a tablet and the doors. When he shines the light at you though, he looks shocked. He gets up and dashes over, grabbing your arm and pulling you into the room before shutting the door behind you.

“Who the hell are you?!” He asked, seeming relieved and yet frantic as he looked you over. “You’re not one of them? You’re actually real?!”

You’re startled by his reaction. “I-I think I am? I’m (Y/N)... Who are you?”

“Wil-“ there’s a pounding on the door, making him grab you and backs you both up back to the desk. “Stay here. It’s safer behind the desk…”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is my eternal damnation.” He commented. “Forever tortured by the life I mistakenly took.”

You open your mouth to question him once again, but a clanging of metal startles you, making you look around.

“W-what was that?”

“My judge, jury, and executioners.” He looks to you and holds the tablet out to you. “After thirteen years, I could use a little bit of help. What do you say?”

You look between the tablet and his silver colored eyes, desperate to hear you agree.

“Sure.”

—————

You were tasked with watching the cameras on the tablet as this mystery man watched the doors and held a flashlight tightly in his left hand. You would occasionally look to him when he would ask you questions and you’d answer. In turn, you’d ask a few of your own. Some he answered, others he’d try to change the subject.

You found out his name was William, though he said his friends called him ‘Will’. He had three children, Micheal, Elizabeth, and Derick. Both Elizabeth and Derick had died as children. You felt your heart hurt for this man’s family, though you knew this man’s name. Suspected of murdering five children…. but how he talked about his family, how he was a single father and tried his best to keep his family together; you weren’t so sure now.

What you didn’t realize was as you two talked, he was busy with random tasks. Flashing a light, shutting doors, and a vent. You were about to ask why he was doing those things, but then you heard a groan from behind you, making you freeze up.

“W-will…? What was that?”

He looked to you, his face paling. “Press the button to your left. Do it now!”

You look down to your left and see a small yellow button. You press it and hear a screech and something backing up. You whip around and see a maw full of razor sharp teeth backing up. The dark yellow body made your heart stop.

“Chica?”

They looked at you in confusion and backed off into a vent behind you, it’s red iris piercing the darkness as it’s broken and ripped body vanished into darkness.

_“**You’re** **not** **the** **one** **who** **should** **be** **here.**”_ You hear a voice come from where the eye was.

“Will?” You look to the purple skinned man.

“Keep an eye on the temperature as well.” He replied. “Some of these beasts love it when the room is hot.”

You frown. “What did she mean by ‘the one who should be here’?”

“You, by some miracle to me, found your way into my hell, (Y/N).” He replied. “Do you know what it’s like to be hunted down and killed, only to open your eyes and be back in the same three rooms over and over and over again with no way to escape?”

“Well, no, but I don’t see how-“

“Well open your eyes and look around.” He said, throwing his hands outward in a display of saying exactly that. “I killed those children. I killed more than you’ve asked about! They found their way to me and dragged me to a hellish hole from whence I can’t escape from. But you, you came here to look for answers. Answers to questions you shouldn’t bother asking, kid!”

As he scolded you, and in turn himself, you catch a glimpse of hands reaching out from the darkness to grab at the man. Something clicked in your brain, and with a surge of adrenaline, you leap over the desk and sprint towards him. You grab him, tug him towards you, smack the hands, and shut the door. Whatever was there let out a bloodcurdling scream as it’s way inside was shut off.

The purple skinned man looked at you in shocked silence, a tinge of color to his skin as he looked you over once again.

“Y-you… you saved me?”

“I still have questions…” you mutter as you let him go, “and I’m not leaving until I get my answers.”

He stared at you for a moment before a large Cheshire smile spread across his face and he started laughing.

“I’ve given you every answer you could have wanted! What else do you even need to know, girl?!”

You clenched your jaw and glared at him. “What happened to Henry Emily?”

The laughing died down and William looked at you with a look of surprise. He walked back to the desk and sat down. “I… I wouldn’t know. We lost touch a long time ago.” He looks to you. “I can tell you where to start looking for answers though.”

“For real?”

“For real.”

A nod of confirmation comes from the man. “Start where it all began.”

“And where would that-“

A yell is heard and you both stop what you were doing. It happened in a seeming instant as time slowed to a stop. You turn to look as something grabs you and tossed you into a box of spare parts, breaking the box and sending you into a pained prone position on your side. You see William get grabbed from behind by a solid black bear. William screams, only to be thrown at the opened left door. His body rolls to a stop and the bear follows, never looking to face you.

You try to get up, but the pain is unbearable. You look to where the pain is and you see teeth digging into your side from a seemingly hollowed out animatronic head. The more you struggled, the tighter it seemed to clamp down on you. You only stopped when you heard the patter of tiny footsteps stop near you. A tall, black and white striped puppet stared down at you.

“W-Who are you…?” You asked. It shook its head and bent down to your level.

_“You and I have already met.”_ A child’s voice said plainly as they’re blackened eyes bore into your soul.

“I-I’ve never seen you before….”

_“I can assure you, you may not have, but I have. I am very aware of who you are.”_ They reached over and placed two fingers onto your forehead. _“I don’t hate you, (Y/N), but you need to stay out of my way.”_

And just like that, the world went dark.


	7. The Grand Opening

You awoke with a start and looked around your room. You were in bed, your hair a mess, and everything in the place you left it in when you went to bed. Was that all a dream? But… but it felt so real… maybe a little too real. You reach over to your nightstand and grab your phone to look at the time.

5:30AM.

Damn…

Welp, you were awake now. You may as well start your day, so that’s what you do. You check on Finch before going to shower after which you make some food for yourself. All the while your mind drifted to your dream. Afton stuck in a never ending hell he’ll never escape. Somehow you ended up there? Also that puppet! How did they know you?! Many questions cycled through your head while you went about your morning routine.

Once it was time for you to head out, you got what you needed and left, locking up behind yourself and headed off to work.

Have you mentioned how much you love the sunrise? Cause it really is beautiful. Wait, driving! Work! Crap!

You almost missed your exit, but thankfully you didn’t. The driver behind you let you know how displeased they were with you, but all you could do was say ‘sorry!’ in your empty car as you got off the freeway and made it to work as you saw people filing into the employee entrance. You park near a black Elantra and run over to catch up with the small crowd.

Mister Cawthon was greeting the employees and spots you, gesturing for you to come over to him, which you do.

  


“Hello hello, Miss (L/N)! Glad to see you could make it!”

  


“Sorry I’m late, sir!”

  


“Nonsense! You’re here. That’s all that matters!” He pats your shoulder and you smile at him.

  


“Ready for today, sir?”

  


“More than anything! Do we need to go over today?”

  


“Maybe?” You shrug. “You may as well, sir. Just Incase.”

  


“Right! Good thinking, (Y/N)!”

  


He goes to the stage and speaks up.

  


“Can everyone come over here for a few minutes?”

  


The crowd of morning employees looked to one another and started slowly making their way into the main dining area to where their boss was. You were included in said group. The talking died down and Scott spoke.

  


“Thank you all for coming today. It’s hopefully going to be a busy day today, so let’s hope! Anyway, you’re the morning crew, so most of you will be working from now until around eleven-thirty. Full time employees will work from now until one. I’ll be here all day to help and make sure things go smoothly. If you have any questions or something happens, let me know. If you can’t find me, ask your supervisor and they’ll come find me.”

  


A mutter goes through the crowd.

  


“We open in an hour, so continue waking up. If you missed breakfast, there’s some breakfast stuff in the fridge in the break room. We’ll be installing a locker room next week for you to store your things. Get ready for a good day today!”

  


The phone-head got down from the stage and the crowd disbanded, a few people made their way to your boss to ask questions about the day and he seemed genuine about answering them. You followed along for a minute, but whatever you wanted to ask him could wait. You probably needed to wake up the animatronics.

You made your way to the ‘parts and service’ room and you could already hear a guitar strumming a tune. Bonnie must be up. You step from around the corner and see the bunny sitting on a comfy looking chair plucking away at the instrument. He looked over to you and smiled.

  


“Good morning, Miss (L/N).” His bass voice said to you. You smiled.

  


“Morning Bonnie. Is everyone else up?”

  


You look around the room and see the others. Freddy was sitting against the wall. Foxy and Polly were in another chair and Chica was laying on the couch. They all had their eyes closed.

  


“Not yet. We were up quite late last night. Don’t worry, I’ll get them up.”

  


“Where are the pups?”

  


Bonnie smiled and set his guitar aside. “Check the lounge. They maybe there.”

  


“I will. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  


You leave and make your way to said location. You look around the colorful room and notice the two pups in a cove just under a built-in playset. The two rested against one another as they were ‘sleeping’. You knock your fist against the metallic archway which caused them to stir.

  


“Wake up you two. We open in an hour.”

  


Ranger yawned and rubbed his eyes, his attention focused on you.

  


“Good morning, Miss (Y/N). Did you sleep well?”

  


You shrugged. “Not really, but it’s fine.”

  


“Oh… well I hope you have a better sleep tonight.” He made a noise as if to clear his throat. “You said we open in an hour?”

  


You nod.

  


“Okay. I’ll make sure Rover and I are ready for the people!” He smiled and started to get up. You watch him for a few seconds before leaving the two dogs be.

You make your way back to the main area and take a look around. You see coworkers walk around and talking. You see a three people in cooking attire making their way up the stairs leading to the laser tag arena.

_‘Oh yeah… the kitchen is up there.’ _You thought to yourself.

As you scan the room you notice one of the twins leave the security office, tablet in hand, and run to the break room. That’s odd… he looked concerned. Like, immensely concerned. You look around once more and quickly follow them into said room. You see them nervously knock on Mister Cawthon’s door and wait, tapping his foot impatiently. You boss opens his door and you hear Asher’s voice.

  


“S-sir, we have a problem…”

  


“Come on in then.”

  


The guard slipped into the office and the door shut. You quickly walk over and press your ear to the door to try and listen in, but the door was too thick to hear through. ‘_Dammit_.’ You thought as you slipped away and out of the break room. Whatever Asher saw on the tapes must be important. Had someone broken in last night? Did something happen to the animatronics? You frown and lean against the wall in thought. It wasn’t your business, yes, but something felt off about today; not just because of your very bizarre dream. Pushing off the wall, you make your way back to where you left the band.

When you get back to parts and service, you can hear the four doing vocal warm-ups as if they were human singers. Scales, lip trills, sirens... Oh man, it was high school choir all over again… only, they sounded a lot better. Even warming up it sounded melodic. You cleared your throat and walked into view.

  


“Hey guys! You ready for today?”

  


“Just about, (Y/N).” Freddy replied.

  


“That’s good.” You look at the four and smile. “Grab your instruments and lets get them on stage and set where you’d like them. You’re gonna be singing about five minutes after opening if the notes on my clipboard are correct.”

  


Just in case, you grab said object off the wall and look at the top page. Sure enough, your daily schedule was already printed out and on there which did show that you were correct. You check your phone for the time.

8:50AM.

Ten more minutes left until opening.

  


“No time to lose! Let’s get ready!”

  


“Right behind ya, (Y/N)!”

  


“Yar, this be quite the adventure.”

  


“And the day hasn’t even started!”

  


“Right you are guys.” You reply. “Follow me to the stage!”

  


—————

  


It’s been three hours since opening and the place was packed. It felt suffocating! Kids running around, parents ‘watching’ their children. It made you have retail flashbacks. Why don’t parents watch their kids in public places? It’s not your job to watch their kids. It’s not your problem if a kid thinks they can do a back flip off the play place yelling ‘_Mommy! Mommy look!_’ while their mother waved them off while talking to another lady.

You caught the kid thankfully and scolded them and told them to be more careful. The kid cried, the mom got mad. Not at her kid. At you. It took Rover coming over and showing her the video of her child while she didn’t watch them. She left with her crying kid in tow back to the dining area while you pet the dog’s head in thanks. Loyal pup is best pup.

You also had to scare off some tweens from going into the back room while Freddy and his friends preformed. Those smirks fell from their faces when you came over with one of the day guards. Gotta love this job. Asshole teens thinking they know everything. If you catch them breaking rules again, you’re gonna kick some butt; and by kicking butt, you meant banning them from the establishment. You weren’t good at fights. Thankfully they did leave with a huff and bit of terror on their faces. Tweens are all scared of one thing; disappointed parents! You know that first hand from feeling the same thing when you were younger.

A few more hours pass and soon the last few families were leaving for the day, allowing the people of the afternoon shift to clean up and get ready to close. You were leaning against a wall, resting your eyes from being there all day. You should bring extra caffeinated things to have throughout the day. Maybe you’ll bring more tea. You didn’t know.

  


“You okay, Miss (Y/N)?” The baritone voice of Bonnie asked you as he got off stage. You open your eyes and yawn.

  


“Just tired… it’s been a long day.”

  


“Looked like it. You did good though.”

  


You smiled. “You guys did great too. The kids seemed quite entertained with the band.”

  


He flashed you a smile and pat your shoulder in a comforting manner. You smiled a soft and tired grin back. The other three of the band came to your side and you looked over each of them.

  


“Come on guys, let’s get you backstage to charge for the night.” You said, pulling your aching body away from the wall, the animatronics following you quietly.

As you made your way into the room in question, you stopped in your tracks. Something was there. You felt a chill run up your spine, waking you fully. Something was wrong.

  


“Yar, somethin’ wrong lass?” Foxy asked you, noticing you stopped in the doorway of the private hallway.

  


“I…” You shook your head and looked to him, smiling. “I’m okay, just waking myself a little before heading home.”

  


A lie. You felt something watching you. Someone watching you.


	8. Lefty

You had blacked out after lying to the animatronics. You didn't pass out. It was more like you went on autopilot. You didn't come back to your own consciousness until you got back home where you found yourself in front of a plate of leftover spaghetti. Fork in hand and phone in the other, you checked to see what you were looking at. 

A note on the search bar of your internet app make you freeze.

'Your house looks nice, (Y/N)...'

You eat what was on the fork and stand-up, dropping your phone onto the table you were at with a dull **thunk**. Did you straight up get possessed? You rush to the bathroom and look yourself over. Same clothes... skin color is fine... eyes still a nice (E/C). You sigh. Still you. Maybe you're just tired still..? You make your way back to the table and go back to eating, opening YouTube and throw on a lets play of that new game 'A Weekend At Danny's'. A creepy first person survival horror game where you played a person who was trapped in the house of a serial killer. The player would have to survive three days, trying to notify the police to where you are, and steer clear of the guy who brought you there. You'd never play it yourself, but you'd watch others play it. The concept was good. The art was nice. You could see yourself becoming a fan of it.

After the video ended, you checked the time.

10:30 PM

Was it that late already? You looked to your now empty plate of food and clean up after yourself before getting ready for bed. You had work in the morning. You lock your door and make your way to bed once you felt ready and did some last minute checks around the apartment. No one there. Good. Just in case, you placed a bat near your bedside. Better to be safe then sorry. You plugged your phone in and settled under your covers. It took a bit for your mind to calm down, but once it did, you fell asleep.

—————

You found yourself outside of your workplace, though, it looked rundown. The wall length windows were boarded up. The exterior seemed rusted and worn. Stains littering the employee door that didn't look nice. The skies above you look dark and clouded; a roll of thunder echoing through your mind. against better judgement, you proceeded forward. It took some effort to pry open the entrance, but once you did and took a few steps inside, the door effortlessly slammed shut behind you. The darkness that blanketed you seemed to welcome you to a grim fate only it knew about. You begin to search for a type of light source when you remember; you have a flashlight hanging from your hip! Something shifts within you and you're suddenly looking as someone reaches down and unhooks the light from their hip and flipping it on to look around. 

The light illuminated the immediate area and you saw that you weren't at your run-down work space. You were in the front end of a diner lined with rectangular tables with flimsy plates on cracked vinyl. The wallpaper was peeling and the tiled floors were cracked. you could see the window leading into a kitchen. You blink and the diner is full of a handful of families, the figure with the flashlight now gone. The smell of fresh pizza and burgers hits your nose, making you shutter with delight. If anything, it made you hungry. The people around you were dressed in a way you couldn't place. The modest dresses and mom jeans of the women and girls, semi-business casual polo shirts and jeans of men and boys.... Maybe the 1960's? If your limited knowledge of fashion told you anything, it would be that. The florals and thick stripes also helped pin that down.

As you look around, you can hear whirring and heavily mechanical sounding voices and make your way to the noise, weaving your way passed wait staff and children running around and playing as their parents watched them from their tables or booths. Rounding a corner, you find a small yet nice -could you call it nice?- play area where two mechanical animals with jerky movements 'performed' on a small, raised platform to a group of maybe 8 children. You could barely make out what words were coming from said animatronics, but the kids seemed to be having fun. Speaking of the animatronics; both were a soft gold color with purple accessories and green eyes. One bear, and one rabbit. The height difference between the two wasn't that great, though the bear was slightly taller; they also seemed to be slightly bulkier.

"They always were creepy..."

You turn to the voice and see a man lean against the archway to the small area. His dark hair was slicked back and tied into a tight ponytail. He wore black slacks and a purple button down shirt. He looks to you with mischievous hazel eyes.

"William...?"

He cocked an eyebrow, a smile flashing across his face, looking you over.

"And... you are?"

"(Y/N)."

"Cute name for a cute lady."

You blushed.

"You say that to every cute lady you meet?"

He laughed, strong yet breathy all the same.

"You're pretty witty."

"And you're not purple."

The smile dropped slightly in confusion.

”Purple?”

Crap.

”W-wow! Would you look at the time! It was nice meeting you! I gotta go!” You sputtered out, turning and making a beeline for the exit of the diner. The man didn’t stop you as you walked rather quickly away.

You threw open the main door and the scene melted around you as you were greeted with a large, darkened entity with a single glowing eye.

"_Conversing with a murderer... you should know better then to do that. In dream or reality, he's not to be trusted._"

You feel your arm get grabbed and you're pulled into the darkness. You find yourself in a seemingly drab looking room where a child-sized being looking at you from the comfort of a rundown bed. The figure, still shrouded in darkness looked to you while it spoke.

"_You're treading in dangerous waters, (Y/N). I don't want to do what I need to in order to keep the others safe..._"

"What do you mean? Who are you?"

"_That's not important-_"

"I'm sure as shit that it's important!" You growl, taking a offensive step forward, squaring up the child-like figure. "I HAVE NO CLUE WHO YOU ARE! I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU KNOW MY NAME AND I'M SURE AS ALL HELL THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME!"

The figure seemed surprised and looked away.

"_Do you really want to know...?_" They asked in a quiet voice.

You nod. "Yes! I do!"

"_Then I think we'll be spending a lot more time together._"

You're about to ask what they mean, but you seize up and get flung backwards into oblivion with a flick of their wrist. You feel like you'll be falling forever, until you feel your body come to an abrupt halt by someone grabbing you and pinning you to a solid object. The being looked at you with a single glowing yellow eye. Fear coursed through you as you locked eyes with the being. The chilling feeling you had felt before was back and this time, it wasn't going away.

"Y-you've been watching me... why?"

"_You weren't on my radar until you found your way into my game._"

"Your...game?"

"_You want to know who I am? I'm the reason William will pay for the rest of eternity. I protect them so they can get their revenge on him. A murderer deserves everything they get... right... (Y/N)?_"

"I-I mean, yeah! B-but I don't know what that has to do with-"

"_What if I told you that history will repeat itself...?_"

"I-I-I honestly don't kn-"

"_Allow me to help you learn... my own puppet..._"

"I'm no one's toy!"

A childish laugh escapes the one holding you, making you pale.

"_You're my toy. Just let me in..._"

A cold hand pressed against your head and slowly adds pressure to it, making you let out a yelp in pain. You felt the back of your head press against the object you were trapped by. You're head was getting crushed and you'd surely die if you didn't do anything. You started to flail and scream as adrenaline coursed through your veins, but you were fighting a losing battle.

"_Shh... it'll all be over soon... just let me in..._"


	9. The Security Tapes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter and the next switch from First Person to Third Person; just a heads up

You woke up with a start with a splitting headache which wasn't helped with the sound of your alarm going off. You grab your phone and switch it off with a groan and toss it to the side, which made it land on the floor and under your desk. you sat up slowly, swearing slightly with the pain. Medicine... gotta find medicine... you're pretty sure you have ibuprofen in your bathroom. You stumble to the bathroom and slam your hand against the wall and flip the light on before rummaging through your bathroom cabinet. It took a minute or so to find the bottle and once you do, you take what was needed with a few handfuls of water and look at yourself in the mirror. You looked a mess. Messy hair, sunken yellow eyes...

Wait...

Yellow?!

You reel back with a yelp, tripping over your legs and falling flat on your butt. Groaning in pain, you slowly make your way back to your feet and look at your reflections eyes. One was (E/C) while the other had a ring of yellow swirled within it. You bite your lip, suck in a breath, and speak.

"You're watching me... aren't you...?"

A chuckle resonates through your mind.

"_Quite observant, aren't you, (Y/N)?_"

"You know, I usually don't get headaches from dreams."

"_You also don't co-inhabit a body after dreaming either, yet here we are._" 

"....Who are you?"

"_Call me Lefty..._"

"Alright Lefty... What do you want from me...?"

"_Simple... You need to make sure more people aren't hurt._"

"How..?"

"_Spend the night at the location...._"

Your eyebrows raise.

"Are you crazy?!"

"_Only slightly. Get ready for work, We can speak more later._"

You sigh, looking once more at yourself before going to get ready, making sure to avoid looking at mirrors until you were in your uniform and getting breakfast. Laptop on the table as you worked on answering emails from your professors. Maybe you'd drop out after this semester.... who knew. Not you. Not now. You'd have to think on that. You shut your laptop and set it aside to finish your food. You still had to grab your things and get to work. No time to dilly dally.

It takes you slightly longer to head out the door, but that was due to you tossing your phone across the room. Once you found it though, you rushed out to your car and headed out. Once at work, you made your way to the back stage area, feeling eyes on you as greetings fell on deaf ears. It wasn't until the door was closed that the one who tried to talk to you looked to the others they were talking to.

"That was weird." Violet muttered. Emily and Andrew nodded in agreement.

"Maybe she's just tired." Asher piped up. "I know I get kind of zombie-like when I wake up."

"That's only when you pull an all-nighter playing video games." Andrew retorted. Asher huffed and and looked to his twin as if he just told the group a deep dark secret.

"How dare you."

"Guys, now's not the time." Emily butted in as she nursed a paper cup of coffee. "It's too early for this shit."

"It's seven-thirty in the morning." Violet stated.

"Exactly. So, Ash. You seemed jumpy yesterday. What was up with that?"

Asher tensed up.

"I-I don't know what you mean!"

"Oh come on! You saw something! I saw you run to Mister Cawthon with a panicked look! What was it?"

The upside down question mark had long changed to three exclamation points. There wasn't hiding anything anymore. He looked to Andrew who sighed.

"We might as well show you guys, but promise you won't tell anyone else."

Violet and Emily looked to one another and shrugged.

"Want us to get Luca?"

"You might as well."

"I'll go get him." Emily said, getting up and made her way to the backstage area as the other three left to the security office. The door leading to the backstage area opened up as the band came out to setup. Emily greeted each one with a mutual respect. Once (Y/N) came out following the band, Emily gave her a small pat on the shoulder and slipped passed her. Going into the room, she took a look around, giving it a once over. She'd never actually been backstage. Looked pretty cool. She found the redhead and spoke up.

"Yo, Lulu, Ash and Andy are gonna show us some cool shit from the cameras. You coming?"

Luca looked over to her and nodded, setting the tablet he was looking at onto the worktable.

"D-did Asher tell you anything about what was going on with him yesterday?"

"No, but I think that we'll find out, come on."

"Right."

The two made their way out of backstage and over one door to enter the security room where Violet and the twins waited in front of a handful of screens that showed various angles of different areas in the building. Every now and then an employee would walk by on the screens. The twins were scrolling through old footage on one of the screens until Andrew paused it with the timestamp of '4/27/19 1:22 AM'. It was of the prize corner.

"Okay... This is so weird. Mister Cawthon thinks it's fine... but we didn't show him all of it." Asher explained.

He nodded to Andrew whom lets the CCTV play. The five watch as The Security Puppet's box opened slowly. Once fully opened, the puppet's gangly form stepped out to it's full height and with it's tiny feet, started to walk. Once out of the camera, Asher switched it to the front end where they saw the puppet stop at the glass doors. It's head tilts and the camera glitches for a moment. Once it clears up, the Puppet was outside. The camera glitched again, and the being was gone. 

"The hell?" Luca muttered. "But... The security puppet was here yesterday morning. I checked on them and everything."

"They came back around three in the morning. While they were gone though, something went backstage." Andrew said, flipping through the cameras to said room and fast forwarded the time to 2:10 AM. Once there, the group see a shadowy figure enter from the small hallway to where the band was charging. They looked to the camera with glowing eyes and the camera goes dark. The group look at one another, concern flashing across their faces.

"How much does my dad know?" Violet asked the twins.

"He knows about the puppet leaving and coming back." Asher replied.

"and the figure?"

"Here's the thing Vi, the figure came out of basically nowhere..."

The purple phone heads' fingers clicked against the table in thought.

"Don't we have a night guard?"

"No."

"That's a problem... I'll go talk to my father."

Emily and Luca looked to one another and nodded.

"Violet, We'll go with you for support." Luca stated.

"Yeah, you shouldn't go talk to your dad alone." Emily added.

"Right... Thank you."

She hugged the twins. "You two keep up the good work. I'm proud of how far you two have come."

Asher's face flushed as he returned her hug and Andrew laughed.

"Thanks mom." The twin joked. Violet chuckled and the eldest three left.


	10. Sweep It Under The Rug, It's Probably Fine

A knock on his door made Scott pause in his phone conversation.

"Mike... I'm going to have to call you back."

Click.

"Come on in!"

The door opened revealing Violet, Emily, and Luca whom all walked in quite quickly towards the desk. Violet pulled off her head revealing a mess of curly brown hair and two hazel eyes. She tucked the purple phone under her arm and looked to her father with a worrying and almost disappointed look on her face. It was rare for the woman to take off what she considered a safety net, but she usually meant business when she did.

"Dad, why haven't you gotten a security guard for the night shift?!" Violet asked, almost in an accusatory fashion towards the parent. "That's irresponsible for starters and you know exactly why a guard is needed! Not just to make sure the animatronics stay inside, but so no one breaks in! Do you know what could have happened if SP never came back?! Dad! This place is riddled with old controversy as it is!"

"I know Violet. I'm sorry, I've been busy. Running an establishment like this is a lot harder then I remember." The older man replied, looking to his daughter. "I guess the whole night guard thing slipped my mind."

Violet let out an annoyed sigh as she set her phonehead down. “Father, you know why having a night guard is important to have. All of the things that could go wrong without anyone here. What if someone broke in? What if there’s another incident?”

“There won’t be another incident. William Afton is dead. We all know that. Besides! With the Pupperazzi and the security system we have in place, we really don’t need a night guard.”

“Dad, you know I love you, but the words coming out of your mouth make you sound like an idiot.”

“Well, do you have anyone in mind for the position? Because I’m all ears as to who you have in mind.” Scott replied, almost sounding sour in tone. He had his reasons for not hiring a night guard. It wasn’t worth the trama to let anyone endure it. He knew all these animatronics were free of the past the franchise had endured.

“We could have one of your old colleagues do it, or even one of the twi-”

“Absolutely not!” It was Scotts’ turn to become upset. “Asher or Andrew taking up that mantle is out of the question! Not only would Jeremy probably kill over from knowing that, but it’s too dangerous. If something happens, it’ll be best to deal with it during the daylight hours.”

“But dad-”

“No ‘but’s!” Scott snapped. “If you want someone to be here, then I’ll look into it. You won’t get involved in this, Violet.” he gestured to the other two. “None of you are to get involved in night guard business. If I hire someone, I will deal with it. End of discussion.”

“But dad!-”

“I said ‘end of discussion’! You’re all dismissed!”

Violet frowned as her friends left. She picked up her phonehead and a fixed it back to its original place. Words pooled in the back of her throat, but said nothing as she followed suit. Once he was alone, Scott picked up the phone once again and dialed. Violet’s words replaying in his head. What if someone like William came around? Vincent was bad, but not as bad as him… He remembered Henry’s heartbreak to his daughter’s death. He remembered when the diner shutdown. It was his first job when he was a teenager. The first location opened a few months later with the gang who started it all. He went from a bus boy to a waiter then slowly became a day guard along with Vincent. By the time the second location with the toys came around, he was promoted to head night guard with his… ‘friend’.

William? He was co-founder along with Henry until he vanished off the grid after all those children were found in Freddy and his friends. That’s when all the shit hit the fan and everything turned on its head. The animatronics seemed to come to life, ready to kill anyone and everyone during the night. Scott almost died a few days after meeting Mike. Being stuffed and left to die, only for Mike to find him in a broken and mauled state. The months recovering in the hospital... The sleepless nights. The nightmares. 

Scott and the other night guards bonded over the shit they went through, but they were sworn to secrecy due to their contracts with the company, so telling anyone about their experiences was hard. Their kids only found out when those video games came out. It took a lot of effort to get everyone to believe that he didn’t have anything to do with the games. The damn bastard who made them took his name and sullied it. He’d considered changing his name, but there was no way he’d let someone get away with what they did that easily.

“Scott? Scott! Hello?” A voice on the other end called to him, causing him to snap back into the present.

“Ah. Sorry Mike, I was just… Thinking about something my daughter brought up.”

“Was it about the past or…?”

“No no. Nothing like that.” Scott reassured the other. “She thinks we need a night guard.”

“For shit? You serious?”  
“Yes. Apparently the puppet got out last night.”

“Like… out out? As in-”

“Outside of the building, yes.”

There was a pause.

“Fuck… that’s… that’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t. That means something is still lingering around from when William was around.” He adjusted himself, leaning forward in this chair. “Can you get into contact with Friz and Jeremy? We need to talk.”

An affirmative noise was given on the other end. “What about Vincent?”

Right…

“I’ll see if he kept his old number, but that bastard is always on the move. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was living off the grid…” Scott let out a huff before continuing. “If you guys can, meet me here in my office.”

“Will do. Good luck Scott.”

“Thanks Mike, you too.”  
The line went dead and Scott sat there for a moment, listening to the insencent droning of the dial tone. Did he even want to include the purple skinned man? He hadn’t seen hair or tail of him since Violet…  
Clenching his teeth, he shook away the thought. No... Violet was okay. She was alive… that’s what mattered. Scott hung up the phone for a moment before picking it back up and dialing the old number of his… ‘friend’ and waited.  
One ring.  
Twice  
Thre-

Someone picked up. A familiar voice, though, they sounded tired.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

“Vincent? It’s Scott. You got a minute?”


	11. Haunted

The day seemed to drone on and on. Interact with the band, check on the pups, stop children from climbing on stage... Violet had allowed you to go on lunch break. She'd care for the band while you were away. You sat in the break room, staring at the paper plate of pizza and water bottle in front of you on the table. You check the time.

11:02 AM

This day was going to take forever.

"_Don't be so grumpy, (Y/N). You have me for company._" a whispering voice cooed

Right... Lefty.

"You've been quiet since we got here. You been busy?" You ask, making the voice laugh. You shuttered, their voice sounded so childish.

"_Mainly watching. Freddy and his friends seem to like you a lot... and in such a short amount of time too._"

"Well I'm responsible for them."

"_Only you?_"

"Only me."

"So much responsibility for one person... What if something happened while you were missing? Hm?"

You paused as you were about to take a bite of your food. "What do you mean?"

_"Lots of things have gone wrong since these characters were created..."_

"Well that won't happen. Not when I'm around." You state.

_"Well... they do seem to like you..."_

You smile at the soft voices words. The band really did like you, didn't they? You didn't even know them for that long. They just kind of attached themselves to you once you introduced yourself to them. Freddy and Bonnie would always be the first to greet you. They asked about your night and made sure you were okay. Chica would greet you with a hug next and Foxy and Polly would give you a proper pirate greeting afterward.... except for today. You'd been so spaced today that you missed their greetings, which had confused the band. You were muttering to yourself... well, not really. You were muttering to your new 'friend' about how tired you were and how inconvenient this arrangement was. You felt like you weren't alone and that you couldn't think of anything without someone else possibly chiming in. You felt bad for ignoring everyone.

"I guess so.. I hope they can forgive me for ignoring them today..."

_"I'm sure they will. You are their manager after all. Their protector."_

"Right..."

"Who you talking to (Y/N)?"

You felt your heart jump from your chest as a new voice spoke. You whipped your head around and spotted Luca as he took a seat by you. He smiled at you. You flushed in embarrassment and smiled back.

"Just myself. I'm kind of out of it today."

"Not enough sleep last night?"

"Something like that. I feel bad about not being 'work ready' today."

"You do look like a zombie, not gonna lie." Luca quipped, making you chuckle.

"I feel like a zombie." You joked back. This in turn made him laugh. 

"Hey, it happens. I'm sure after today, you'll be back at it."

You sure hoped so. You nodded and finally began to eat your now cooling food. It tasted alright. Pizza was pizza, so you weren't complaining. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. It was nice. The screams of joy and children crying unable to penetrate the walls of the break room which was an added bonus. You asked Luca about his day so far and he started to talk about how boring it was... save for earlier when Violet went off on her father about hiring a night guard.

"Why? Did something happen last night?" You ask. Luca looked like he was contemplating about telling you, but he soon let out a sigh and spoke again.

"Apparently the security puppet got out last night?"

"Like... out of their box?"

"Out of the building."

You looked at him. The look on his face told you he was serious. 

"Why would they leave?"

"We don't know, but Mister Cawthon said he'd look into it."

"That's good at least..." You reply. He nods and you change the topic to life outside of the fun center. You find out that he was going to Dixie State like you were, but was going into programming instead of just taking his generals. He lived with his dad. Mom wasn't in the picture, she never was. He had a dog named Pepper Jack; she was a Pointer-mix and a rescue. She always wakes him up to go out for a walk before he has to work. This made you laugh a little. That sounded cute, her waking Luca up and all. In return you talked about your family and the like. The two of you talked until your break came and went and soon you were back in the main building by the main stage, watching as the band performed.

As their song ended, the children watching were cheering as children do along with someone in the back yelling out something worthy of an eye roll from you. As the band exited the stage and went about interacting with the patrons, Bonnie walked over to you.

"Miss (Y/N)? May we walk and talk?" His deep robotic voice asked you. You smile and nod.

"Of course, Bonnie."

He carefully reached for your hand and you let him, his arm linking with yours as he 'escorted' you out of the dining area. It reminded you of when you would go to Disneyland and interact with the mascots which made you smile, slightly embarrassed.

"I hope you don't mind this, Miss (Y/N), I just wanted to talk with you without the others interrupting." He started, looking where the two of you were walking. "You seemed out of it this morning, is everything alright?"

"I had...." You hesitated for a moment, "a bad dream... I've mostly been thinking back to it all day."

"Would you like to talk about it? It may make you feel better to talk to someone about it."

It wouldn't hurt to... would it?

"I guess so... It was... odd." You started. "I met a man whose skin was this vibrant purple color... His hair was well kept and he wore something resembling the uniforms Asher and Andrew wear..."

"This made you lose sleep? Miss, with all due respect, someone with that description doesn't sound like something to get worked up about." Bonnie replied, his voice laced with something you couldn't pinpoint.

"Right... maybe there's something I'm missing." You lied. "I guess I can't remember what spooked me so badly."

"I'm sure that whatever it was, it's not real. That's what dreams are after all; just imaginative places and things the human mind creates."

"Right... Do you dream, Bonnie?" You ask. He looked to you, processing your question.

"I don't, but I'd like to figure out how."

A smile creeps to your face at his answer. It was sort of heartwarming to think the robot bunny wanted to learn how to dream. Thinking back to it, you're pretty sure Mister Cawthon said something about the AI in the animatronics and how it learns as it goes. It was almost human. Humans you had to help learn and grow. Though you felt almost gitty at the fact that you got to help with that, you could hear a slight growl in the back of your mind. Not your own sound of discomfort.

"Once you learn, you should tell me what you dream about. I'd love to hear about it."

"I'll make sure to Miss (Y/N). I hope it'll be a nice dream."

_"He says he wants to dream, but why should he be given the right?"_ Lefty spoke up, making you tense slightly. Their words dripped with malice. Why would that make him mad?

"I'm sure it will be, Bonnie."

As you two continued to talk, the main doors opened and you watched two men walk in; one with grey skin and the other had shaggy red hair and glasses. Both were older, maybe 40-50 years give or take. You silently watched them as they greeted the two workers at the front desk and made small talk before Violet walked over. She gave each of them a hug and lead them away. You recognized the first man as Emily's dad. The second looked like an older Luca, so that must be his dad. Odd. What were they doing here?

After watching them leave, you checked the time and your clipboard.

"Bonnie, You have to get back to the stage, Eight minutes until your next show." You told him.

"Alright. Should I go get the others, Miss (Y/N)?"

"No, I'll do it. It's my job, you silly bunny!" You chuckle. "Can't have you going and stealing my job."

The two of you share a laugh and he pats your shoulder, flashing you a smile. "I'll see you after the show, Miss (L/N). Thank you for talking with me."

"Thank you for letting me talk. It felt nice."

The large animatronic left for the stage and you left to look for the other three. You found Chica and Freddy talking in an animated fashion with a few young children in the dining area. The kids were asking questions and stating obvious things about the two, which made you let out a small chuckle as you approached.

"Hey kids! It's time for Freddy and Chica to get back to the stage! They've got another gig to play!" You announce to the small group. A collective 'aww' came from the kids as some started to complain. "They can come back to play after their performance! You are their fans after all! They wouldn't wanna disappoint,"

You look to the two. "right guys?"

"Oh yeah! Besides, we play our music to make you guys happy!" Freddy explained. "You all like it when we sing, right?"

To that, the kids nodded, some letting out a 'Yeah!' to answer.

"Then we gotta ya little nuggets!" Chica added. "Why don't y'all go sit by the stage so ya can watch? We'll even lead ya over there! C'mon!"

The gaggle of kids followed Chica and you stopped Freddy. "Do you know where I can find Foxy?"

"I think he's near the prize corner. You might wanna check there, Chief." He replied, gesturing in the general direction of said corner. "We'll see you in a bit, (Y/N)."

"Thanks Freddy. Break a leg." You told him, letting him go as you left the dining area. Once at the prize corner, you spot Foxy. You check you time. 3 minutes till showtime. Gotta move quick.

"Ahoy there Foxy! Three minutes until curtains up!" You call to him. Said fox was currently talking quietly to the puppet in the box. You couldn't hear their conversation, but as you approached, the puppet spotted you and hid back in its container. The pirate looked to you with confusion, then happiness.

"Ah! Thank ye fer remindin' me lass! It's good t' see ye on top of things!" He commented. He used his good hand to pat the top of your head, giving your hair a little ruffle. You laughed at the action.

"I'll look after Polly for you if you'd like."

"That would be fantastic! Thank ye!"

The robotic bird hopped off his shoulder and onto yours, giving you a happy trill and a head bump. You pet the bird's synthetic feathers and watch as Foxy left to the stage. A handful of seconds go by as you hear the band start their next performance. As you're about to go join them by the stage, a small voice catches your attention.

"(Y/N)..."

You turn quickly to look for the source of the voice, but all you saw was the prize corner attendants talking to one another as they restocked the small prize bins. You scanned the area and found no one. The voice sounded awfully familiar though... Polly nudged your face again and you snapped out of your search.

"Right... Come on Polly, let's go watch the band."


	12. The Meeting

"I told you that doing this was a bad Idea, Scott. I fucking told you." Mike stated to the phone-headed man. "I told you not to invest in this. I told you to just let all of this go. Now instead of mascots with dead and rotted corpse children piloting them, we now have robot fucks that learn as they grow and one GOT OUT!"

"Mike, please calm down. This isn't something to blow up about. The Security Puppet came back."

"Yeah, and something tampered with the cameras so it could!"

The four men in Scott's office were in a heated discussion; if you could call it that. It was mainly Mike yelling about how this was all a bad idea and how he was right.

"M-mike, you know that we all agreed that Scott was the... the best person to do this. B-besides, none of our kids are hurt and are thriving in their work, despite knowing about what we've all been through." The youngest of the men spoke up; a question mark adorning his face instead of eyes and a nose.

"Jeremy is technically right, Mike. Let's slow our roll and not jump to conclusions." The redheaded man next to Jeremy added. "No one's hurt and it was probably something wonky in the AI's setup, which is an easy fix nowadays."

"I'll get Luca to check. Not a big deal." Scott stated. "Like Fritz said, it's probably a glitch in the AI. If it can't be fixed, we'll just return the puppet and get a replacement."

"Remember Mangle?" Mike piped up after a minute or two. "Boss said the same thing, yet she seemed to always 'come back' every night. Those didn't have dead kids in them. Those were flat out AI."

The room was silent afterwards. They all remembered how that weird fox always found a way back into the restaurant. Hell, she almost killed Jeremy a few times and if it wasn't for one of the other guards finding him, she would have. No one knew why she hated the youngest so much, she just did.

"Mike... I know that we all went through so much. We all still have the scars from times we've had to fight for our lives." Scott started. "You almost died as a child, I was in the hospital for a month due to being 'stuffed'. Jeremy almost died, Fritz has had to run from the withered animatronics and has taken Foxy's hook to his body. We knew the risks when I brought this up years ago and we all agreed we wouldn't let this place go down in flames. That's why I called you all here, so we could figure this out. I don't want the kids to get involved because they don't deserve to go through what we did. Especially not after what happened to Violet." 

"Right... She seems to be holding her own though." Fritz commented. "Say Scott, didn't you contact Vincent?"

Another minute of silence.

"I did... He said he'd be here, but knowing him, that's a toss up. We all haven't seen him in person in a while, and I know that, but who knows where he is or what he's doing. If he's not here today, we can try to discuss this another time."

There's a small knock and the door opens, revealing (Y/N) with Polly on her shoulder. She looked at the group who had their eyes on her and she gulped.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mister Cawthon. Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all, Miss (L/N). Is there anything you need?" The man asked.

"Violet was busy dealing with a stuffy family and asked if I could bring this guy back here. This guy told me you know him? Vincent?"

The other three stiffened at the name. He actually came?

"Thank you (Y/N). Let him in and you can go back to the band."

She nods and steps aside allowing a purple skinned man to step into the room. We wore something fairly casual; a black t-shirt and dull yet dark burgundy pants. The man flashed a smile towards the men.

"Long time no see boys. Nice to see all your cheery little faces. Where _ has _ the time gone?" the purple man spoke.

—————

Before Vincent came into the fun center, you were busy with making sure children didn’t climb onto the stage as the band played. You interacted with them as part of the show; making teasing remarks or witty comebacks to things they said all while keeping it as family friendly as possible. It seemed well received by those eating and watching. Some people would ask you about Polly and you would answer based on what you’ve figured out about the bird and what Foxy had told you. 

Was he a heavy bird? He weighs about 15 pounds. Did all that weight hurt on your shoulder? Oh yeah, but you promised to look after him while Foxy was on stage. What’s Polly’s favorite color? Green, closely followed by red. The list of questions went on and on.

At the end of the performance, You made a note on your clipboard on what time it was. One performance left and then your day would be done. Just had to survive until closing. You had a snake to feed and a shower calling your name. You wait for Foxy to leave the stage before you hear your name being called. You look towards the voice and you see Violet walking towards you.

“Doing alright, (Y/N)?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay. How about you?”

“I’m alright. So, I need you to take someone to my father’s office while I deal with a few customers. Can you come with me?”

“Sure. Lead the way.”

The phonehead lead you away from the crowded stage and towards the front of the building, weaving through people. You see a few people at the front desk; a family of four arguing with the teen behind the desk, and a purple skinned man leaning against the counter. You feel your body stop against its will as the hair on the back of your neck.

“_ What’s he doing here?! _ ” You hear Lefty’s voice. It sounded like it was just dripping with venom. “ _ He shouldn’t be here. He should be dead. Turn around and just walk away. Do not let him talk to you. _”

“(Y/N), this is Vincent Jackson. Vincent, this is (Y/N), she’s here to take you to the back.” Violet explained. “You can take it from here, right (Y/N)?”

You snapped out of your transe and nodded. “O-Of course, Vi! No problem! Nice to meet you, Mister Jackson.” 

You stick out your hand and he reaches out to shake it. If you could describe the man standing in front of you, it would be that of the term ‘Silver Fox’. Though he was an older man, he still looked attractive and young. You motion for him to follow you and he does.

“Man, it’s been a while since I set foot in a Freddy’s establishment. It’s good to know Scott’s been keeping the name alive.” The purple man commented, his eyes roaming around the building. “So what do you do, sweetheart?”

“I work with the animatronics.” You reply, despite Lefty yelling about how you shouldn’t talk. “As you can see via Polly here. I make sure they stick to their schedules as well as keep children from climbing them or their stage.” You gesture to the bird who squawked in reply.

“Seems like a fun job.”

“It is. How about you? Did you work for Fazbear?”

“I did when I was younger. I was a night guard. It was fun.”

“What did you do as a night guard?”

“Watched security cameras, make sure no one broke in… made sure the animatronics didn’t get out of hand and kill one of us guards.”

What?

“What do you mean?” You ask.

“It’s nothing sweetheart, don’t you worry your pretty little head.”

“Oookay… So you worked with Mister Cawthon?”

“Yep! He and I have known each other through Fazbear’s for years. He and three others also worked as night guards.”

“Oh… I see. We’re here.”

You knock on the door before opening the door. You were about to speak when you scanned the room. Three other men were in the office. Two you recognized from earlier when they came in and a man who seemed younger than the bunch with dusty brown hair and a question mark instead of eyes and a nose. Must have been Andrew and Asher’s dad.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mister Cawthon. Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all, Miss (L/N). Is there anything you need?" The phoneheaded man asked.

"Violet was busy dealing with a stuffy family and asked if I could bring this guy back here. This guy told me you know him? Vincent?"

"Thank you (Y/N). Let him in and you can go back to the band."

You nod and step aside, holding the door open so he could step inside. He gave you a wink and you shut the door hearing a muffled ‘_ Long time no see boys. Nice to see all your cheery little faces. Where has the time gone? _’

“_ Why did you help him? _”

“It’s my job Lefty. I can’t go against helping my boss.” You reply to the voice in your head.

“_ The man with purple skin is a monster. A true monster… _”

“He seemed nice.”

“_ He’s a liar. _”

“Lefty, I’ll admit he talks like a creep, but you can’t try to take over my body to get away from someone who’s creepy.”

You hear a huff and Lefty goes silent as you exit back onto the main floor.

“Look, I’ll make you a deal. If we’re in immediate danger, like I’m going to die if I don’t move, then and only then you can take me over and get us away. Sound good?”

Silence.

“_ Okay… I’ll keep that in mind. _”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

Polly trills, which causes you to look over and notice Foxy walking over.

“Oh! Sorry Foxy, Violet had me go do something. You can have your bird back.”

“Tis fine lass. My bird like ye. Thank ye fer taking care of him.”

The parrot hops from you to the fox and gets comfortable.

“Any time Foxy. You know I’ll take care of you all.”

He smiles and pats your head with his good hand which makes you chuckle.

“And we’d do the same fer ye, lass. Mark me words.”

“I mark them, Foxy. I mark them.” You reply. “Anyway, I’m gonna go check on the pups. Wanna come with?”

"Why not? It'll be an adventure!"

"Then come with me, Captain!" You reply, turning and heading off towards the lounge, hearing the metal footfalls behind you.


	13. The Truth

It had been a few months since you started working at Freddy's. You'd dropped your schooling to just focus on work. It didn't help that you were sharing a body with Lefty, but you two found a good routine. The two of you would work in tandem to do work. You worked with keeping the animatronics safe while he'd tell you about the old Freddy Fazbear's. It was almost like listening to an audio book or podcast. It was haunting... yet comforting in a why. It seemed to calm the spirit too. Finally having an outlet that wasn't other vengeful spirits with the same issues. You felt bad for him. All this pent up anger and frustration with no one to tell it to. You allowed him to vent and he seemed to calm down quite a bit since you two first started sharing a body. It seemed like he found solace in talking to you.

What were you currently doing? You were at home. The time? 4pm on a Friday. Your workplace was closed for some scheduled maintenance, so no work other then shutting off the animatronics for the weekend and reassuring them that you'd be the first person to see them come Monday. Emily made sure to get your number in order to throw you into a text chain so you and the other four full-timers could chat and probably schedule a hangout time outside of work. Although it was nice of them to consider you apart of their friend group, you had other plans and you're pretty sure they wouldn't help you.

Through the months, you've been gathering what you could about everything. Information about the past of Freddy Fazbear's; though, you haven't gleaned much from what you could find. There had to be someone who could help you. Someone who could just be open about it. From Lefty's stories, things William told you when you met him and the slips of the tongue you would hear from Mister Cawthon or your coworkers, you could piece together a few things;

1\. Children were murdered at the first two establishments.

2\. William is trapped in sort of a recreation of events where he's the victim and he cannot escape it.

3\. The animatronics seemed to come to life and actively hunt down the night guards of previous establishments because they thought they were William, no matter the gender.

Somethings added up. You figured out William was a murderer due to what he told you... but looking at the notes scattered around your coffee table, you could tell a few pieces of the puzzle were missing, but what? You sighed and took to the internet via your laptop and opened Reddit. If anyone could help you... they'd have to be there, you just needed to figure out what to type without alerting Lefty to your activities. Though he liked talking, he did drop that he wasn't always active, he felt the need to sleep too to regain energy. He was part of your mindscape now, so it would make sense, but the boy was a light sleeper. With a goal in mind, you found a forum where people could ask others about topics very few people knew about and people who knew what you were talking about could answer if they wanted to. Clearing your mind of any thoughts, you began to type:

_ **The Past of Fazbear Entertainment** _

_I've noticed that very little is posted anywhere about this company. I don't know if it's because the company made sure little got through to national media or people were asked to delete things like articles and such, but I need help. I work as an animatronic caretaker at the company I work for and the name Fazbear Entertainment keeps popping up. I know it was a local chain, but I've never heard of it until now and I want to know why I can't find anything on it. I know this is a long shot just asking about it, but is there anyone that worked at a previous establishment that can shed some light onto what happened and why this company seemingly ceased to exist?_

You hit the post button and quickly made yourself busy with something else until you got a reply. _If_ you got a reply. You prayed for someone to answer as you rummaged though your fridge for food to make. Just something to eat while you browsed the web. It didn't take long when your computer told you you had a private message on the site. Weird. You set your food aside and open the site back up, opening your direct messages.

**PhantomVisage: What's the real reason you bring up Fazbears?**

**(Username): Pardon?**

**PhantomVisage: You have a reason. You can't just ask this just because a few coworkers talk about it at your job, so what is it?**

You think for a minute before you answer.

(Username): I've been putting bits and pieces together over the past few months about what I've been able to find, but I'm missing pieces to this mystery. I've grown up in Utah my entire life and I've never heard of the company until now. I just want answers as to why.

**PhantomVisage: Do you still live in the state?**

**(Username): I do. I'm down south.**

**PhantomVisage: How far south?**

**(Username): St George**

**PhantomVisage: Can you take a daytrip up to Pleasant Grove? I want to talk... not on here.**

**(Username): I mean... yeah, but who are you?**

No immediate reply. You felt red flags going up. Could you trust whoever was on the other end of this to tell you what you want to know? How could you even trust them?

_Ding_

**PhantomVisage: Call me Ben. I used to work as a guard at Fazbear Fright before it burned to the ground, but I know a lot about the company. If you want real answers, I can give them to you, but you need to be 100% sure you're ready to handle the truth. I don't want to disclose anything online because I don't know who will take that information and smear it across this hell hole called the internet. Can I even trust you?**

The hell kind of question was that?

**(Username): If you're the one with info then we should be able to trust one another, right Ben? I just want info. My life has been literally thrown through a loop since I started working as an animatronic caretaker and I just need someone I can talk to about all this shit. Can we meet up somewhere like a cafe or something If I come up for the day?**

**PhantomVisage: We can meet at Chubby's. Kind of pricey, but they have private booths.**

**(Username): Sure. When can you meet? I have the weekend off due to scheduled maintenance.**

**PhantomVisage: Tomorrow at 3pm?**

**(Username) Sounds good. How can I spot you?**

**PhantomVisage: I'm kind of hard to miss. I look like a walking corpse... I mean, that's what my roommate calls me.**

**(Username): I'll keep that in mind. See you tomorrow.**

You close the chat and go back to your dinner and YouTube and texting your work friends. You might as well put the time in your phone and get to work figuring out how long it'll take to get from where you were to Ben's location and when you should leave while you have your phone out. You decided to leave first thing in the morning around 9am. You'd have time to do some shopping before hand once you got there, which is something you needed to do for a while. You haven't had any real 'you time' in months and you know for a fact you needed it. 

—————

Tomorrow seemed to come too quickly as your alarm to get up went off. You didn't dream that night, You haven't really dreamed since you and Lefty began to share a body. It was like when you started, it cut out like someone pulled the plug on the tv screen that was your dreams. All you heard were comforting whispers and a soft melodic sound you couldn't quite place. Maybe one day you'd be able to dream again, but today was not that day. You got up and got ready for the day, donning some casual clothes, checking on your pet, and headed out the door with a bag of pop-tarts.

"_Where are we going?_" Lefty asked as you walked to the car.

"Well good morning to you too." You reply. "We're going on a small day trip to meet someone."

"_Why? Don't we have friends here?_"

"This person has something I need." You state, getting to your car and getting it started up before leaving your parking spot. "We're also going shopping and having a day to ourselves. I know my coworkers wanted to hang out tomorrow, so I'm grabbing a few things while we're out."

"_What will we be doing?_"

"Hanging out at the twin's house I think. I'd have to check again. I think they were talking about playing some games and watching movies. Maybe a sleepover tonight? Haven't been to one of those in years."

"_Sounds like fun._"

"It beats working all the time."

"_Don't you like your work?_"

"I do. Don't get me wrong Lefty, I love working closely with the Rockstars and the Pups but I need my personal bubble back, even if it's just a day or two."

Lefty went silent and you flipped on the radio to see what's playing. You flip though a few channels before settling on a popular 'music through the years' style station, bobbing your head and singing softly to yourself while you drove out of town and onto the freeway. You were having fun by yourself as you drove. A small 4 hour road trip was basically nothing to you. You get to Pleasant Grove around 1pm. Two hours to kill until your meeting, so you drove around until you found a shopping center to park at. It was small, but pleasing to the eye. Almost log cabin like. You smile and with a deep breath, you went shopping.

—————

You made your way over to Chubby's around 2:55pm and got there just before 3. As you pulled into the lot, you noticed someone walking into the establishment. Their face obscured, but you could make out the faint tone of their skin. It looked dull and almost grey in tone, but that could have been due to the light. It was kind of cloudy. You park and head inside. The door made a little jingling noise as you entered and you looked around at your surroundings. It looked like you just stepped into a discount Texas Roadhouse. Hunting and fishing memorabilia along with mini shacks that housed tables and booths. You notice the order counter and walk over to it, finding the man you saw come in. His lower face was covered via surgical mask He wore a thick faded blue jacket and worn black jeans. His voice was low, so you couldn't make out what he was saying to the girl behind the counter.

Once he ordered, he took his order number and went to sit down. You watched for where he sat and hurried to order your own food. You didn't feel that hungry, so you just got something light before taking your order number and nervously walked over to the secluded table where the man is sitting.

"Ben?"

The man looks up. "May I help you?"

"I'm (Username). You told me to meet you here to talk?"

The man seemed to let down his guard and nodded for you to take a seat, which you do, which allows you to fully look at him. Dull darkened eyes and a dull, almost dead look to his skin. It was blueish-purple... like a walking corpse. You couldn't see his lower face due to the mask still being there, but you could hazard a guess that it looked just as dead.

"Glad to see you're not some loon."

"I could say the same to you. You weren't kidding when you said you look dead."

"Yeah... there's a lot more than just looking dead... but let's not focus on that. You wanted information on Fazbear Entertainment, correct?"

"Yeah. That's right."

"What do you already know?"

You go into things you've found out and the man just watched you, nodding as you talked. Your food came as you finished speaking. You weren't really looking at him, so you didn't notice his ripped open jaw when he took off his mask to eat a few bites while he listened to you. Once you looked back at him, he'd affixed the mask back into place.

"So, long story short, all I know is William killed children and the old locations around Utah were massively haunted."

"He stuffed them..."

"Pardon?"

"William Afton killed children. Not his own... but others." Ben repeated. "He hid their bodies until they were found days... sometimes months later. At first, he hid the bodies in the garbage, but after the animatronics were made, he stuffed them into the bodies of Freddy and his friends. They became walking coffins."

You looked at Ben in disbelief. The animatronics became grave sites for the kids he killed. That's probably why the locations became haunted.

"And you worked at Fazbear Fright?"

"I did... in a why, I've always been there. It's hard to talk about... but I knew William."

What? How old was this man?! He looked like he couldn't have been older then 36?

"How'd you know him?"

"He was my father."

You felt yourself stiffen up.

"_Michael? Michael's... alive?_"

"I'm his only living family left. His youngest... my little brother died because I was an asshole of a teenager. My Little sister... She was killed by one my father's creations. I became so angry and I left to be on my own when he went to prison for a while. Sadly he was let go due to insufficient evidence."

You were silent. You felt nauseous and about ready to pass out. The things he was saying seemed to click in your mind. Everything started to make sense.

"I think... I think I need to process all of this."

"I don't blame you. This is a lot for anyone to take in. I don't tell anyone anything about it since some asshole published books about everything years ago.. but I'm glad you're just a normal person."

"Y-yeah... thank you for telling me this... If I could ask, did anything else paranormal happen? Like... possessions or something like that?" 

"There has been stuff like that, yes." 'Ben' replied after a bit of pause. "There's a lot that I've seen, but I think our time to talk is... done for now."

a look of shock passed across your face.

"W-wait. Already?"

"Unfortunately. I can't be out for long for my own reasons." He got up and grabbed his tray of food to go leave. "Is there any last questions you have?"

"Yeah... where did it all start?"

His eyes looked you over. "Hurricane. If you want to know more... go to Hurricane... I'll keep in touch for when we can talk again."

Just like that, he walked back to the counter leaving you alone with the information you learned and a sickening feeling in your stomach. Why did you smell rotten flesh all of a sudden...?


	14. Comfort and Understanding

Your stomach felt funny as you drove home that afternoon. Your car was void of noise and all you could hear was your engine running and the occasional passing car driving by. That smell of decay still on your nose as you replay what 'Ben' -Who you found out was actually named Michael- told you:

'Hurricane. If you want to know more... go to Hurricane... I'll keep in touch for when we can talk again.'

Now, you've never been to Hurricane, Utah. It was a small and sort of run-down, but you knew it wasn't far from home and it was a pretty town... in a way. Red rocks and dessert foliage, but a bit more oak tree instead of palm due to the slight heat shift. You remember looking at pictures of the town a while back, but you'd need to look at them again in order to get the full picture of where you'd need to go. You don't know when your next day off would be after tomorrow, but that's when you'll go. If there was more to uncover, then you'd need to go.

You get home around 8pm, put your new purchases away and started to pack a weekend bag. "Finch, I'll be home Monday night. You'll have enough water and then some. Hold down the fort!"

You poked our head into your room and looked at your snake, who was currently hiding in his cave with his head poking out. You smile at him. "I love you so much my little noodle. I'll be home Monday night."

You made sure all the lights were off save Finch's heat lamp and left your house with your weekend bag in tow. You shoot a text to the group chat asking what the plan was and Asher answered with an address.

**Asher: We're staying at our place this weekend. You close?**

**(Y/N): Yeah. I might be a few minutes though. Anyone want anything from the store before I get there?**

**Asher: We still have some pizza left over for you. Could you get some soda or something? Maybe some tortilla chips and salsa?**

**(Y/N): Aces. I'll bring those. See you guys in a bit!**

You pocket your phone and drive to your nearest WalMart and take a few minutes to grab a whole load of junk food, chips, and dips before making your way over to the address given to you. You get there and park to the side behind a white pickup truck. You take a look at the house and check to make sure you got the right location. It was a flat roofed house with a two garage driveway. The exterior consisted of asymmetrical bricks and spackling made to match the desert tones of the city. The lawn was all landscaped with a stone slab walkway and desert brush. Did you also see a little 'natural'' fountain too? Impressive.

Bags in hand, you made your way to the door and rang the doorbell. A minute or two passed and a woman with curly brunette hair and soft blue eyes answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this the Fitzgerald residence?"

"It is, who do I owe the pleasure?"

"My name's (Y/N), ma'am. I work with Asher and Andrew. I was told we were staying the weekend here?"

She gives you a smile and ushers you in. "I'm glad there's a new person in their little friend group. I'm pretty sure they're all downstairs. Do you need a hand with your bags?"

"I think I got it, ma'am, thank you."

"Oh dear, no need for formalities. If you're a friend of my boys, then you're a child of mine. You can call me Annabelle or Mom." She pats your back and leads you to the stairs leading to the basement. "You have fun and make sure to watch your step with all those bags. I don't want you falling because you can't see."

"I will, thank you!"

You slowly make your way down the stairs and walked down the small curved hallway before ending up in a large common room where your coworkers were hanging out. Asher, Violet and Emily were watching Luca and Andrew battling it out on Smash Brothers.

"I brought more junk food!" You announce which was followed by cheers of joy from the small group.

"Dump them on the table and toss your bag to the corner and come sit!" Emily told you, scooting over on the couch and patting the spot next to her. You do so and plop yourself down, looking to the TV.

"Who's winning?"

"I think Luca."

"Lies and slander! I'm just off my game today!" Andrew complained, causing the others to chuckle. It felt off being invited here. These five knew each other their whole lives and you were just some half-possessed girl from work. Asher looked to you from his place on the floor and gave you his gap-toothed smile.

"After this, you wanna play?"

"Nah, I'm good. I haven't played Smash in forever so I'd be super rusty. How often do you guys do this? Like... staying over and such?"

"Every few weeks. Sometimes we'll spend the night at one another's houses if we wanna carpool. Which is often."

"Oh. That's cool. You guys are like a big family."

"Well, our dads have known each other since forever."

You chuckle and looked around the group before going back to watching the tv just as Luca ended the match with a win. There were cheers and a congrats and a 'hrumph' from Andrew. Poor kid. You walked over and plopped down next to him.

"You did good. You a Joker main?"

"Yeah. He's a fun character and I like The Persona series."

"That's cool."

Andrew gave you a smile and he turns off the game. After the group calms down, you take your opportunity to speak;

"Hey, can I ask you all a question I've had for the longest time?"

"How long we talking?" Emily asked.

"Like... our first week working together long." You replied.

The group looked to one another and Violet spoke up. "Sure, what's up, (Y/N)?"

"How... or more fitting a word, why did you all choose to work for a company you knew had a bloody past?"

The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift. The younger four seemed to look scared to answer while Violet's calm demeanor hardened.

"What do you know about Fazbears?" The oldest asked.

—————

"It's all been so weird! I've lived in the state my whole damn life and I've never even heard of this franchise! I'm not...." You take a breath and stop pacing the room after spewing practically the entire rundown of your life the past few months save for the dreams and possession. Not that you didn't want to tell the group, but Lefty wouldn't let you. He would stop you from speaking as if you were trying to regain your composure. "I'm just so confused about everything. About why I'm just now hearing about it. About why it's still a thing after everything..."

"It's a long story... but things happened and we're here." Luca shrugged. "Sorry if that's not the answer you were looking for, but..."

"It's just like... our dad's talked it out. There was yelling from mine and concerns bounced around, but we ultimately ended up in our positions because 'at least it's not the night shift'." Emily cut in.

"Because you could end up in a situation you could end up dying in. I'm sure no parent wants to go through losing a child like that." You add in.

"Why... don't we change the topic?" The twins said simultaneously.

"Why don't we put on a movie to lighten the mood?" Violet suggested.

"There's a comedy special I've been meaning to watch on Netflix." Emily commented.

"Then let's watch it!"

Luca coughed and stood up. "(Y/N)? Can I talk with you in private?"

You nod and the two of you head down another small hallway and through the second door on the left to a large room with air mattresses were blown up and laid out for the guests staying over. Luca shut the door and sighed as you did a little twirl in the room to face him.

"What's up, Luca? Everything okay?"

The redhead fixed his glasses and addressed you.

"You seem really uneasy about all of this stuff. Everything okay with you?"

"Y-yeah! I mean. Why wouldn't they be?"

"You wanna talk about the eye color shift from (E/C) to yellow? I know you've been trying to hide that, but it seems like it happens any time you do something or try to say something involving the past of the company."

You feel yourself freeze up like you have many a time before. Lefty was scared.

"Like right now. It's like you blink and it shifts color. What's going on? I want to be able to help you." He paused as he stepped closer to you. "Is... that even you, (Y/N)?" he carefully reached out and took your hands in his looking at you.

Your face flushes from how close he is along with how genuine he seemed. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes and decided to start falling.

"I...I'm _not_ sure _anymore..._" Your voice cracked as both you and Lefty spoke in unison. You were pulled close to Luca as he slowly guided you to a mattress and sat you down, sitting beside you as you leaned against him, crying. He held you close and rocked you softly back and forth as he rubbed your back. Luca allowed you to just cry, muttering 'it's okay's and 'let it all out, I'll be here when you're ready's. It seemed like it took forever for you to calm down. When you spoke though, it wasn't your own voice.

"_I'm protecting her, you understand that... right?_"

"What are you protecting (Y/N) from?" Luca asked.

"_him..._"

"And who's 'him'?"

"_The one who killed me and my friends._"

Luca thought for a minute. "Do you mean Willia-"

"_Don't speak his name... please._"

"Okay, I won't, I promise."

”_Thank you, Luca..._”

”Can I speak to her?”

It took you a minute to regain control of your body, but once you do, you sit up and look at Luca, wiping your tears away with your palms.

”Sorry... I... Lefty has a mind of his own.”

”Is that what you call your eye shift?”

”It’s his name. I thought the eye shift was subtle, but I guess not.”

”It is actually, but working closely with you has kinda showed me when you shift. It’s always quick, but I always see it when you and I are in the back.” He coughed and looked away, slightly flustered. “N-not that I stare at you! I-it’s just when I look over to make sure everything’s okay-“

”Luca?”

”Y-yeah?”

”It’s okay. I’m okay. Thank you for talking to me. If you wanna know what’s going on. I think I’ll be able to tell you.” You take a bit to compose yourself before starting. “I used to have these dreams... but I’m not sure they were dreams.”

You explained to the best of your abilities those dreams early on. Seeing the diner, meeting and talking with William, his confession and meeting Lefty. You talked about minute details and how you haven’t been able to dream since. During this time, Luca just sat at your side and listened; holding your hand the whole time. By the time you were done, you were leaning against him again. The worst thing about crying was that it was draining. It always was.

"I'll grab your things and you can get comfortable." The redhead went to stand up and you stopped him. He looked at you with a small look of confusion until you gave him a kiss on the cheek which in turn caused his face to go red.

"Thank you, Luca... for letting me finally get this off my chest... I appreciate you."

"N-no... um... no pr-problem, (Y-Y/N). Thanks for... for trusting me w-with all of this." He stammered out before getting up and heading out the door. As you watched him leave, you couldn't help but smile.


	15. Shatter Me

Monday came all too quickly in your opinion, but you also missed the fun center. You missed the band and the pups. You kept your promise to the animatronics about being the first person they saw when they powered back on, much to their delight. Their hugs and 'Good morning's were great and needed. It was great. After a tune-up from Luca and they were off. You walked yourself quickly through your day's schedule, sitting at one of the many empty tables in the yet to be opened fun center. Your clipboard and phone on the table with pen in hand. You were jotting down notes and humming to yourself, a random song in your head as you worked.

It looked like a busy day. Six performances, one being a birthday around 4pm. That was good. Kids seemed to love coming here for parties. Maybe you'd feel the same if you were a child. You let out a chuckle. Little you would think it was so cool you were working with robots. Focus (Y/N), you need to work out how you wanna do your day. You shook your head and looked through your paperwork until you came across the birthday order.

A set of twins around the age of seven. One boy and one girl. They wanted Chica and Freddy to play the party games with them and for the band to sing to them as soon as it hit 4:30om, no later. As you looked at the information on the paper, you see a whole damn itinerary that the parents wanted you to follow with the sentence 'We want everything written on this paper done to a 'T'. Do things exactly specified and you'll get a good review and tip.'. You grimaced. You're gonna need someone to help watch Bonnie and Foxy until they're needed. Maybe Andrew or one of the waitstaff... You set an alarm on your phone for 10 minutes before the birthday party would arrive along with your many other alarms for the day and neatly re-organized everything.

You go and check on the pups in the lounge and help them organize things in their own puppy fashion. Crayons and colored pencil tins on the tables, kid-friendly instruments placed in a pile, and coloring paper in their dispensers. It was a Monday, so things should be slow until after schools get out. You informed the pups as such and they nodded enthusiastically.

"That means we can wonder around?" Rover asked.

"Only for a little bit. You'll still need to keep an eye on the lounge, just in case little kids are there."

"How little?" Ranger asked. You thought for a moment before answering.

"About fine and under."

"And no toddlers unless supervised by a parent, right?"

"That's right! You two have learned so much. I'm proud of you."

The dogs looked at one another with bright and happy expressions. You pat their heads and bid them a 'see you later' before wondering off to check on the band just as the first few patrons start to file into the establishment for the morning. The band was busy tuning their instruments on the stage, doing some soft vocal warm-ups as you heaved yourself up onto the stage.

"Hey guys! I need to talk to you for a hot minute."

Chica looked at you, a bright smile flashed across her face.

"What's up, dumplin? Somethin' botherin you?"

"No, nothing like that Chica. We have a birthday this afternoon. and-"

"Oh! We haven't had a birthday in a few weeks!" Freddy interrupted.

"Freddy, it's rude to interrupt." Bonnie said.

"I'm sorry, I'm just to excited! I love birthdays!"

"Yar, we all do! Let the lass speak!"

"It's okay guys. Listen, Freddy and Chica are wanted for playing party games with the kids. The band is also wanted for a birthday song around four-thirty. Because I'll be overseeing the party and making sure you two don't get hurt," You gesture to the bear and chicken, "So I'm going to try and find someone to watch you two so you can do your thing while I'm away."

"No need to worry about us, Miss (Y/N)." Bonnie reassured. "We'll be okay. If we need you, We'll come find you, like we always do."

"He be right lass, ye don't need to fret over us."

"Well... If you're sure..."

Foxy walked over to you and placed his hand on your head. "Aye. We be positive, lass."

"You guys are the best." You commented to the band. They all exchanged looks with one another and Freddy swept you into a tight hug. You were scared at first, but after your mind registered what was happening, you laugh and hug the bear back. Once put back on the ground, you were given head pats by the others. You hop off stage and headed off to finish your rounds.

—————

Your day was a blur. You made sure to do your rounds, interacting with each animatronic like a stage play you've memorized. You made sure the band played on time and conversed with children and parents if needs be. Just typical things you've come to expect through your days. Around 3:25pm, you made your way over to one of the party rooms to help one of hostess' there set-up the party. The girl, whom you're pretty sure was named Lydia, chatted with you about how her day at school was and how she was glad to finally graduate high school that year. You chuckle. You remember being that way years ago. Once everything was set up, your birthday alarm went off and you shut it off. It was time to get Freddy and Chica.

You left the party room and took a quick look around to try and spot the two large bots. You spot the top of Chica's head across the pizzeria and made a beeline for her. You had 10 minutes to get the animatronics to the room and to greet and escort the party to their room. Finding Chica was easy. Telling her that it was time was even simpler.... finding Freddy though... it was like he vanished without a trace. Fear starts to set in as you speed walk through the fun center. You needed this bear, where did he go?! You double back to the party room and don't see him through the glass wall, only Chica and the hostess talking. Shit.

Prize corner? Nothing.

Arcade? Only Bonnie. 

The Pupperazzi Lounge? Just the pups playing with the kids there.

Laser Tag queue?! Nothing!

You check the time. 3 minutes before the party arrived.

"Freddy?! Where'd you go?!" You call out over the crowd, which is lost among the chaos and loud talking of patrons. You continued to try to find him for another minute before giving up. You found Emily and stopped her as she carried a tray of fresh Pizza towards the dining area.

"Have you seen Freddy?"

"Do you need him?"

"For a party, yes."

"Well I haven't seen him since three, but I'll tell him to go to the party room if I see him."

"You're a lifesaver, Em. It's Party Room Two."

"No problem, (Y/N). Just go do your thing."

You nod and head off to the front desk to wait for the group. You flip through your notes and look for the name of the kids. Amber and Louise Daniels. As soon as it hit 4pm, the doors opened and a large group started to file in and two adults walk over to the front desk. They asked about the party and that's when you stepped over.

"Hey there! You must be the Daniels'? Correct?"

One of the men looked at you and nodded. "That's correct."

"Excellent! If you'll follow me, I'll take you, your guests and your children to the party room!"

Once you lead the group to their designated room, the party officially started. Freddy was there thankfully, but something happened as the party progressed. You don't know what. All you knew is at first, you were helping out the party just fine. Around 4:25, your phone buzzed to let you know it was almost time to sing 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday boy and girl. You excused yourself and stepped out for a moment to fetch Bonnie and Foxy and boom; you blacked out and woke up in a dark hallway, not at your work, but somewhere familiar. Drawings on the walls of happy children and worn posters of generations of Freddy and friends lining the halls. Instead of children's screams, you could hear footsteps. Large, metallic footfalls that were coming towards you. A voice in your head screaming for you to run. Run or you'll die. You don't know why, but you acted on those thoughts, scrambling to your feet and started running the opposite direction.

The hallway seemed to stretch on and on until you saw light. A soft glow comprised of pinks, blues and yellows as you ran closer and closer, something wrapped around your leg and sent you crashing to the ground. You turned to the best of your abilities and saw a gnarled robotic hand with claws gripping your ankle tightly, the claws threatening to pierce skin. Glowing red eyes staring you down as you were dragged closer to it, allowing you to see it's features. Massive and withered, the dull gold of its body came into your view as it stood up, dragging you along with it. tears in its furry body revealed it's mechanical components and rows upon rows of sharp metal teeth stained red, bits of flesh and meat stuck between a few.

You let out a terrified scream and start kicking the hand holding your ankle with your unrestrained leg as you hung upside down. Your adrenaline was spiking. This was a a 'fight or perish' moment. You couldn't die here. Not now. You had too much going for you. Too much to leave behind. Your kicks seemed to do nothing save for the grip on your ankle becoming tighter. Pain hitting you as sharp nails pierced your skin and dug deep. Your screams and wails of pain echoed through the halls. Someone. Anyone! You begged, you pleaded for someone to save you.

"**_Begging won't save you, child. Nothing can save those who find their way here._**" a deep guttural noise comprised of various voices told you as you felt your bones start to buckle in your foot. "**_No one should be able to find their way and yet you've done it... twice... Either this is just coincidence.._**"

You feel your ankle snap and you stop struggling as the pain is unbearable.

"**_Or you're being summoned by the damned._**"

the grip loosens and you drop to the floor with a whimper. Against your better judgement, you look back at your foot which was only be held by tendons and slivers of muscle as your injury bleeds. You look back up at the nightmarish monster and sputter for words.

"I....I didn't m-m-mean to... to be here..."

"**_Unless you can prove your innocence,_**" You're grabbed by your stomach and pulled upward, more pain racking through your body as you feel the skin and muscle under your rib cage. "**_then you're no friend of ours. You are our enemy, and you will perish._**"

As you feel your stomach being torn into and your consciousness fading, you hear metallic screeching and you're dropped once more. Your vision blurry and your ears ringing, but you noticed two black blobs and a large gold blob backing away back into the darkness. The bigger of the two blobs make its way over and you feel yourself being rolled onto your back, the blob comes into focus and you notice their one yellow eye. Lefty. He calls over to the second blob who seemingly floats over and they too come into focus. A white masked being with black eyes, red cheeks and lips and purple streaked down its face. You couldn't hear what they were saying, but Lefty seemed to continually look back and forth between you and the shadows. The last thing you heard before fully fading away was:

"Don't worry... I'll put you back together..."


	16. Sharing is Caring

You woke with a start taking a look at your surroundings as something tries to push you back down gently, which caused you to let out a terrified scream, thrashing slightly.

"Woah, woah! Miss (L/N), calm down! It's okay!" You focus on the voice as your wrist is caught. You notice your boss was talking to you, the man, now maskless in order to talk personally to you. The older gentleman had his fair share of wrinkles, but that was to be expected with his age, his hair was a dusty grey with some brown still left in it and his eyes were a reddish-brown color. You looked around once more and notice a pair of paramedics were on either side of you to help you slowly sit up as your wrist is let go.

"What... what happened?"

"From what patrons and your boss here told us, you passed out. Looks like you had a massive anxiety attack and hit your head pretty hard."

The first offered you an open water bottle and two pills, which you took as you guzzled the water down. Once you lowered the bottle, you took a few deep breaths.

"Those should help with the pain from your little bump as well as calm your heart rate down."

"Th-thank you..." You sputter out. You look at your feet and find them fine, but you could still feel the dull pain.

"Take your time before getting up. Getting up too quickly will make you dizzy." Again, you nod at the paramedic's words

"Thank you...I... I think I'll be okay." You set the almost empty water bottle down as you're helped to your feet by Scott. He lead you to a table and helped you into a seat. You realized now that you were in the break room, it explained why you heard no sounds. 

"I think we'll be okay now, thank you two for coming." Scott addressed the pair.

"No problem sir, we're here to help when needed, Mister Cawthon. It's our job." One of them replied. They pack up and head out, leaving you two alone. You rested your head in your hands and focused on breathing, still feeling the dull pain in your upper abdomen and your leg. You felt like throwing up and just curling up to die. You felt helpless and weak at that moment. Why the hell did you go back when you did?? You hoped it didn't mess with... oh no! The party!

"M-Mister Cawthon, the birthday-"

"It's okay, Miss (L/N). You don't have to worry about the party, just focus on regaining some energy in your system. Once you do, I'll have someone take you home unless you feel you can drive."

"I... I can drive myself. Honest."

"If you say so. Go directly home and take tomorrow off. I'll make sure the animatronics are taken care of while you’re on bed-rest.”

”Mister Cawthon, are you sure? I don’t think I’d feel right if had to take a day off.”

”Everything will be alright in your absence, I can assure you of that, Miss (L/N).” He pat your back in a fatherly sort of way before letting out a sigh and turning to make his way out to the main floor of the establishment. “Like I said, take the time you need to regain some strength before heading out. We’ll see you when you’re feeling better.”

You watched him go and sighed, putting your head back in your hands. You felt a headache try to come on as you rested, but thanks to the pills the paramedics gave you, it left as fast as it came.

"Lefty? I'm really not feeling well..." You mutter. Usually, you hear him right when you ask him. This time though... there was silence.

"Lefty...?" You ask again. Again, nothing. Normally, you'd let it go and assume he was busy with something, but you felt like you couldn't sense he was there. This was alarming in a way. You've spent months sharing a body with the character and now everything felt sort of lonely. You felt dizzy once again and you rest your head on the table your at before things go dark once more.

This time, you wake up in a dimly lit room. Your body was aching, but looking at yourself, your stomach wasn't torn open and your foot was fine. You let out a breath of relief and started to look around until you felt a human sized hand place itself on your back. You're helped to your feet and turn to find the trapped purple man looking relieved in a way.

"I knew I'd see you again, (Y/N), but I didn't think that I'd be able to get you here. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"William... what..?"

"No need to thank me. I'm sure you've been dying to see me again." He smirked and went to shut the door on the left side of the room. You got a better look at the room and... it looked like a bedroom. Plush blue and grey speckled carpet under your feet. The walls were a mix of dull blue wooden panels on the bottom and fancy cream fleur-de-lis wallpaper on the top. The doors on each side of the room were white along with the closet's folding doors. Dull blue furniture matching the paneling held children's toys; a play phone, a few wooden cars and dusty plush toys of the original Freddy and Friends.

"You... You weren't here last time I came here..."

"Eh, the places change depending on the mood the 'vengeful spirits'... This is the worst place for me. I hate the memories that come with the room and I can't help but feel guilt every time I'm here." The man replied, opening the door back up and walking back to the desk to check the tablet set there. He seemed distant in a way as he walked the room, doing various things to keep those hunting him away.

"So... you know this room?"

"More or less better than anything."

"Was this your childhood room?" You asked, picking up a plush to examine it.

"Please! Fazbear wasn't a thing when I was a kid. Didn't even live in Utah until I was in middle school." William laughed, sounding in a way melancholy yet indignant. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore. Maybe if he hadn't died, maybe I wouldn't be here."

You put the plush back and walked over to the desk. "How long have you been here?"

"Don't know... What year is it?"

"Twenty-nineteen."

He thought for a moment.

"Then I've been here ten years... Give or take. Doesn't seem like it's been more then a few days though."

Shit. That's a long time to be tormented. You looked at your hands and looked back at him. He closed the door he was nearby and opened the top drawer of the nightstand in the corner, pulling out a music box. He walked over to you and sat it on the desk.

"Wind that up, if you could. I don't want those things entering."

"The animatronics? Which ones like a... music box?"

"Just do it." He snapped.

You jump slightly and start winding it up. The prettiest little song starts to play as footfalls Are quickly approaching the door to the right, but they stop and you hear a crash just within the darkness. William lets out a chuckle and pats your head in a way of saying 'good job' before shutting the open door.

"Why did you bring me here..?" You asked. "This isn't my punishment."

William looked over at where you were, but decided to ignore your question. You huff, glaring at him once he turned around to flash a light on what was hiding in the closet. Something was up and you didn't like it.

"You can't hide forever, daddy..." A feminine voice echoed through the room and William visibly flinched.

"You know she cannot save you from your sins... Just let us in, my darling." A lower, more sensual voice called out.

"No! You won't get in! I'll survive until the bell and you'll leave me alone! You'll all leave me alone until tomorrow!" William shouted into the air. "You won't EVER get in! You won't get me!"

You watched him as he started to break, tears of anger filling his eyes. His fingers digging into the tablet he held. He threw it at the wall and the screen shattered. You flinched and watched him crumble to the ground, hitting it with a fist and screamed at nothing. You were getting scared and slowly started to get up and back away from the desk. William went from crying and screaming to laughing. It started slow, but quickly turned maniacal. He looked at the smashed tablet and grabs a large piece of the glass, slowly getting to his feet. You press yourself against the wall behind you, tense and ready to run.

"W-william. Please keep calm... I'm sure you can-"

"NO!" He spun to look at you, gripping the sharp glass in his hand until it bled. "YOU'RE HERE FOR A REASON! I NEEDED YOU HERE! YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME GET OUT WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

With that said, he ran at you. You dodged to the left and pushed the desk into him. It only stunned him for a moment until he was coming after you again. In the tiny room you felt trapped and needed to escape. Your only options were the doors. One was slowly opening, robotic limbs creeping in. The other was open to the dark. You scrambled for the fully opened one, William on your heels. You didn't make it far before your being tackled to the floor, a piercing pain shooting through you from your shoulder as you slammed into the ground. The pain blossomed as you feel whatever got jabbed into you wrench itself out of there it pierced you. 

"YOU ARE GOING TO HELP ME! I WON'T STAY HERE A DAY LONGER!" William screamed at you as he sunk the glass into your again, causing you to scream in pain. You needed to struggle, you needed to fight. You feel yourself get flipped over and you're stabbed once more, over and over and over. You tried to shield your vitals, but the flailing only egged him on as a wicked smile turned Cheshire-like at your cries. It made him happy, more... alive.

You cried out for someone to help you and footsteps were heard over the pounding of your heart in your ears. Blood pooling underneath you and soaking your clothes, as you cried out again, you felt it, the sharp glass dragged across your throat. It cut through your skin like paper. William made sure to do it once more before he's ripped off of you. You watch him get pulled up by a humanoid and partially destroyed animatronic. Piercing green eyes watch the man as he's lifted by his torso via what looked like giant rusted pincers. He didn't seem scared, he seemed happy. A twisted kind of happy.

"Daddy... what did you do?"

"What I needed to Elizabeth. You'll have a brand new friend soon enough." He looked at her and sliced his own throat open, pressing the glass into his jugular. She let out a metallic screech. Your eyesight fogged over and you gave into the darkness, William's sputtered laughter the only thing ringing in your brain.

You woke up to a buzzing in your ears. Letting out a groan, you sit up and look around. This wasn't the break room. You sat in a swivel chair with a modal showing various camera locations in a dimly lit room. A large glass window, an open doorway, and a vent. A box of spare parts was in the corner and a deactivated animatronic in the other just behind you. You looked at yourself and let out a scream. Your body wasn't your own. Your skin was purple, male, and your clothing resembled that of a security guard. You hear a bell chime and the lights dim further.

—————

Silver colored eyes flutter open and look around. A break room? How convenient. The body -Your body- stands up and did a little twirl as the eyes examined their look.

"Well... it's not a convenient body... but It'll do." Her voice came out sickeningly sweet. She let out a giggle and exited the room. Although the body was not the best, it would do what William needed. He was in control of it after all.


	17. Trapped

You had no idea what you were doing. You flipped through the cameras and became more and more upset every time something got closer to you. You figured out some things. You also found more things in the office the more you looked around in between learning to close the vents and figuring out who and what to flash your flashlight at. You were also given a spare Freddy head... which you promptly threw at the first thing that tried entering your office. A scrap of parts with a broken bear mask. It seemed very confused at your actions as it caught the mask with a hand. It looked to you, the mask, and back again.

You hear the scrap metal cackle loudly as the mask was tossed aside and the being raced towards you. You tried to run, but was slammed against the wall and choked. One if it's noodle arms was coiled around your throat and it continued to get tighter and tighter. You clawed at the arm, but it was no use. Your lungs slowly refused to work and your vision started to blur. Your actions to try to escape slowly ceased as the world went black once more. The sound of laughing dulled to ringing and then nothing.

You wake up once more with a gasp. Your throat hurt and you’re pretty sure there was a bruise there. You didn’t want to check though... just in case. You’d get so distracted just looking at the injury. Looking at yourself confirmed your encounter wasn’t a dream. You were still in a murderer’s body. Dammit. Rubbing your face with your hands, you let out a sigh and look around once more. A new office and new props. Perfect…

You were in the first office you met William in. White walls and various openings to the office including an open pipe that dropped from the ceiling. You look behind you and sure enough, there was an opening behind you as well. Each opening was lined with caution tape, plus there were spare robotic parts and a large mawed animatronic with gangly arms that reached the floor with their long bony fingers. The animatronic wore blue pants, brown shoes, and a red and purple shirt and pinwheel hat. Acting faster than you did before, you go about walking the perimeter of the room to take in everything. You poked your head out of one of the doors and looked down the dim corridor of posters and drawings. It was the same on the other side, but you could see a doorway nearby. You check behind the desk and the large metallic hallway was… ominous.

You thought back and remembered a few things. You probably needed to keep the temperature in check as well as making sure to shut the doors and vents when and only when things were close. Rummaging through the desk, you found a flashlight, a Freddy mask, and a music box. Perfect… Hopefully you could survive longer. You just needed to remember what you were told and what you figured out. You sat in your chair and sighed. Here we go. It’s game time and you would live.

You didn’t.

You were doing fine after the bell rang. You tried to keep a level head and would go about flashing your light, checking the temperature, and closing respective doors.You saw a few animatronics through the cameras. A blue plastic Bonnie, a majorly damaged Foxy, and a small white and pink bear. As you put the tablet down, you noticed the animatronic in your office move. Instead of slouching on the floor, it was sitting up and staring at you with a wicked smile. Looking back at it, you felt around for something you could use. Your hand landed on the flashlight and you tried it. It seemed to work and the big-mouthed animatronic went back to its slouch. You smiled, chuckled to yourself and flashed the light again. 

That was your mistake. A mistake you’d only make once.

The animatronic sprung forward, gripping your arm and face in its hands.

“You messed up little morsel~.” The monster purred to you. Your eyes widening as you struggled to get away. Their grip tightened and you stop. “Why don’t you come closer~? Help me count my teeth!”

You were dragged over the desk and felt teeth grind down on your head. The world went back once you heard a sickening crunch and you woke up once more in a swivel chair. Now you had a massive headache. You groan and slap the desk angrily. You know what? You would survive this time. You’d make damn sure of it. Then you’d be able to explore this hellhole. You needed to find Lefty and explain what happened. You needed your body back. You let out a frustrated yell and get up off the seat. You saw that you were in the same room as last time, only this time, no animatronic in sight. 

You pulled out the supplies from your desk drawers and get to work planning your routine. This needed to be perfect. Besides, third times the charm, right? You grab the tablet and flip through your given cameras to see if you could spot anything before the bell. Thankfully, you could. You saw a small stage behind a starry curtain with two animatronics on it. They looked like Foxy and Bonnie only without all of the stars or getup. They seemed to be arguing, though you couldn’t hear what about. Bonnie looked at where the camera was and stopped. Anger plastered on his face as he seemed to stare through the camera. You gulped and set the tablet down. Your heart racing as the bell chimes.

Stay calm. You can do this. Keep your wits about you and you’ll stay alive. Let your adrenaline come alive. You’re fine. You’ll keep the creeps away and survive.You just need to move and listen. You left the seat and got to work pacing as you checked cameras. Shutting vents and checking the doors. It’s as if something clicked in your brain. The need to survive.

You came close to dying a few times, but you were able to hit your cues on time. Though the night, each animatronic that came through was relentless. The ever so angry Bonnie and irritated Foxy. A plastic Chica crawling through the vents. That small white and pink bear was back and a smaller, sweeter looking version of that creature from the night prior tried getting in a few times. After last time, you weren’t taking your chances. Hearing the bell seemed like a joke until you heard grumbles and the lights in the halls came on… You… you won?

You ran over to the desk and set the tablet down before crumbling to the floor. You felt… happy? Yeah. Happy. Rising to your feet after a few minutes, you decided to leave the office and explore. It was safe now, right? It felt weird stepping out into the hall with the lights on, but in a way it was comforting. It was like a reward for being good. You were being good… right?

As you ventured through the halls, you heard the shuffling of feet and harsh mutters from places unseen. It sort of gave you the creeps. Still you carried on with your adventure. As you walked, you took in all of the scenery. White walls with colorful stars and bubbles. Balloons and streamers on the ceiling. It gave off this air of 1990s nostalgia and you were all for it, a small smile creeping to your face as you looked at everything. It’s not as creepy with the lights on.

As you ventured into the ‘main dining area’ where the curtained stage was, you heard something. Crying. A child crying. It wasn’t often that you heard small whimpers of teary eyed children, but it made your heart hurt. You knew there were no children, only animatronics, but it didn’t stop you from following the sound.

The crying seemed to get closer and closer the more you followed it until you came upon a little girl. Not an animatronic, but a child. A small lonely child. Their ginger hair was down which concealed their face from view. They wore a cute pink dress with puffy sleeves and cute little white sandals. 

Something of maternal instincts kicked in and you carefully made your way over and sat on the floor next to them.

“What’s the matter, sweetie? Why are you crying?” It was weird talking with a masculine voice, but the caring tone still rung true.

The girl looked up at you, her green eyes seeming reluctant as she shied away even further.

“Oh. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk.” You continue. “But I won’t hurt you. I’m not here to do that. I would never do that.” 

“You’re lying. You always lie, daddy.” She sniffled. “That’s what you do every time you win… you lie.”

Her quiet words pierced your soul, but you had a general idea of what she meant.

“...he kills you when he wins… doesn’t he…?”

“You kill us when you win.” She corrects.

“I wouldn’t do that. William would, but I wouldn’t.” You pat yourself down and shrug. “I got nothing on me, sweetheart. I’d never hurt a kid. On my life, I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

As you spoke, the girl listened, her body relaxing as the words ‘I got nothing on me’ left your lips.

“You won’t hurt me?”

“Not you, not anyone.”

She thought over your words carefully before something clicked in her head.

“Daddy isn’t here anymore… is he? He was right… he turned you into what he became… so now he’s what you were.”

“you hit the nail on the head there. You must be Elizabeth… am I right? Can I call you Lizzy?”

She nodded and you gave her a soft smile. “Well then Lizzy, it’s nice to meet you. I’m (Y/N).”

She wiped her eyes and you hold your arms out toward her. She hesitated at first, but soon the child was in your lap as you hugged her close and rocked her back and forth. Her tears slowly but surely dried and for the time being, she just listened to your borrowed heart beat.

“There we go… you feeling better, Lizzy?”

“I am…”

“That’s good… do you wanna tell me why you were crying earlier?”

“I was afraid… afraid my papa would kill me again… that I’d be the first of many to die tonight…” Elizabeth stated through shaky breaths. “When daddy wins… we all turn into who we used to be… and we run and hide from him. Until we gain our animatronic forms back, all we can do is hide and pray he doesn’t find us.”

You listen intently to her words, running a hand through her hair in a soothing motherly -fatherly?- manner. “Well I’m not going to hurt any of you. I want my body back and I want William to pay for this.”

“He’s always been a horrible person… putting his wants and needs before others…”

“Has he?”

“Well.. not always.. but something in him changed when my little brother died…”

You thought back to everything William told you about his family. “Derek?”

She looked surprised. “You know about him?”

“Your dad told me your names, but nothing more.” You explained. “Currently, he’s the only one of the kids I haven’t met.”

“Really?”  
  


You explain your meeting with Michael and what you learned from him. You also explained the tidbits of everything you’ve found out about the company and how you basically came into this mess as an outsider with no prior knowledge of past events. How irritating it was with people keeping secrets and you basically having to dig through the mysterious words and phrases yourself. You literally got this goon as a way to help pay for college and now look at you! You dropped out of college to pursue this full time and now your stuck in this hellscape in someone else’s body.

The whole time, Elizabeth just listened to you, playing with one of the body’s hands like any child would. What you two failed to notice as you spoke was eyes watching you from various places. Each varying in color as they watched your every move.

Soon the topic changed to just random questions. What your favorite color was, favorite animal, songs; the list went on and on. It wasn’t until much later that the little girl warned you that you should be heading back to the office. It was understandable, even though you survived a night didn’t mean this body was off the hook.

“If you win again, we can talk more… right, (Y/N)?”

“Of course we can, Lizzy. We can talk as much as you want.”

“I’ll try to convince some of the others to come say hi as well. Though.. most don’t really trust adults anymore.”

“That’d be great. Just remember that you don’t have to force them to do something they don’t want to do. I know you guys are scared of William, so they don’t have to say hello if they don’t want to.”

Elizabeth held your hand as the two of you walked back to the office in silence. Once there, she gave your borrowed leg a hug and ran back off down the hallway. You watched her go, a small smile of your face. If the others were as bright as Elizabeth, then you’d be getting out of here before you know it.


	18. Welcome Home

William was slightly upset being sent home, but apparently Scott had already told (Y/N) to go home for the day and to not come back until the day after tomorrow. That old phonehead has no idea what he’s talking about, but William decided it wasn’t worth piping up for. His actions and words just meant he could get what he needed to get done before he started on his plan and none would be the wiser. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Was he going to mess up this woman’s whole life? Yes. Did he care? Not one bit. Her sacrifice is his gain and he’ll be milking it for everything it’s worth…

(Y/N)’s home was a standard apartment. Thankfully she never took the sticker off her key indicating what door was hers. Lazy girl when it comes to menial tasks it seemed. Good. It made things easier for him. He tossed the womanly things onto the couch that met him once he entered and went to find something more comfortable to wear. He couldn't think in these dressy customer service clothes. An old baggy shirt and sweatpants. It seemed like everyone had a variation of that combination. Varying colors, but the same regardless. Once on, William got to work to see what he had to work with.

A laptop, phone, and piles upon piles of notes on Fazbear Entertainment. Huh… interesting. She had been busy since they first met. Too bad all her work was for his gain. Refreshing his memory could help solidify the things he had running through his head.

Let’s see here…

Child murders. Suit stuffing… Oh… good to know all those pathetic night guards are still alive. Funny that they let his protege out of prison once they found out he didn’t kill anyone. It’s a shame really; death row looked so good on him. He would have attended his execution but… he had been stuffed himself due to his own recklessness and revenge filled childish spirits. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. He’d make sure of it. He slid the notes aside and started to search the apartment for what he needed for tonight. He was sure Scott kept the plans of each animatronic in the fun center, but where? He didn’t get the opportunity to explore as he’d been ushered to (Y/N)’s car and sent off.

William growled, going through drawer after drawer searching for what he needed. Hopefully, women now-a-days still kept random things for their hair in random bathroom drawers. If anything, a few stray pins and maybe a paperclip would suffice. Not like he could just go out and get a lock picking kit, right? He didn’t need that kind of attention on him. Luckily you were bad at keeping your drawers clean and threw just about anything in your bathroom drawers, even if they didn’t belong there, so finding a paperclip and bobby pin was easy. He set them in the living room and sat on the couch to look over the notes on the table once again. The more he read, the more he had to laugh. There were so many fragments of information that it made the body’s original inhabitants look like a madwoman spewing nonsense. He continued to read through everything until he got to a sticky note with the question ‘Why Hurricane?’ written on it.

Ah yes… his old stomping grounds. Where he lived his whole adult life. Though the first location lay empty in New Harmony -a skeleton of its former glory-, the second location was located in Hurricane. Maybe it was still standing? Maybe his old home was still around? If it was, maybe he could still access his old workshop? He checked the time and shrugged. It was still bright outside, he had time to check if he really wanted to. He searched the small apartment and found a backpack in the small closet in (Y/N)’s room. He put in a few useful items in it and left the apartment once more.

—————

The drive was alright. It was strangely fascinating to see all of the new buildings and construction work that had been done over the years. It was a nice change of pace from all the nature and nothingness there once was. Once he entered the town, his mind went on autopilot as he drove to where he used to live. It wasn't a large home height wise, but it had many a room which housed the small family of four. Beverly never approved of his underground workshop, but she changed her mind once he’d shown her his plans for it, but once his third kid was born, she passed. Poor Bev. William did his best to raise their kids… then Derek’s accident happened. The move was a 'fresh start' he was told. Henry told him to let it rest. What happened to his little boy was an accident…

William parked (Y/N)’s car a little ways away down the small hill the house sat upon. If he remembered correctly, the secondary entrance to the workshop should still be around there somewhere. After some walking, he found a small metal shed surrounded by worn and rusted fencing. Could be in better condition, but it didn’t matter, the shed looked like it hadn’t been opened for a long time. It seemed to also have various forms of graffiti on it much to William’s disgust and disdain. He slipped through a hole in the fence and examined the sealed shed. He ran his stolen hand over the entrance and set it on the sealed panel next to it at eye-level. He pressed down on it lightly and stepped back, letting the panel slide upward with a rusted squeak, revealing a dusty keypad. He let his fingers dance across the keys as he input a code.

99607347

Upon hitting enter, a dim light flickered green and the panel slid closed once more. The entrance finally swung open towards him and a small light flickered on inside. The silver-eyed being was shown a circular pad and another panel with two buttons; A green button with the word ‘Open’ written on it and a red button with a downward facing arrow just below it. He stepped in and shut the door behind him and pressed the lower button. A shrill and short sound was heard before the circular pad below him started to descend, slowly plunging the stolen body in darkness.

William’s mind wondered as he waited. Last time he was here was just before his downfall. His eldest and only surviving kid had just moved out and had cut contact with him. All of this shit happened all because Henry wanted to forget. He asked William to forget about his youngest. How his youngest died. The horrified expressions from everyone as he walked out of the backroom… Micheal cried and told me he didn’t mean for Derek to die… Henry believed moving on would take away the pain… But why was he allowed to keep his family when Will’s was already down two? Anger seeped into his being once more as he thought back to it. Was he not allowed to have happiness? Was he not allowed to keep his family whole?!

He tried so desperately to fix Derek. He spent nearly a month in the hospital with him and it was for nothing. He pleaded with doctors to keep him alive until he could create something to help him. He was on the verge of a break though when they told him to come in to say goodbye… He felt himself become numb. He was so close… He worked so hard...for nothing.

He almost didn’t notice when the lift stopped and a door slid open in front of him. It was dusty and rundown but it seemed like everything was left the way he’d kept it. Worn blueprints on the walls, tools and robotic parts scattered across many a table and shelving unit. He had time to kill before his plan went into motion, so he could have some fun with whoever lived above his workshop. With a huff, a twisted smile spread across his stolen face.

“It’s good to be home.”


	19. Who We Are

Dying sucks. If you could wish this endless torment upon anyone, you honestly wouldn’t. You’re unsure if William was lying or not about the passage of time, but you’re pretty sure that if he wasn’t lying, it would have been over a month since you got trapped in this hell hole. Yes, you’d been keeping track. What else could you do when you’re options were dying a horrible death every few hours or try to live and be able to talk to children with decades of knowledge that a child should never have. Although Elizabeth trusted you, would the others she wanted to introduce to you feel the same? Although your soul was yours, your body wasn’t and you’re positive having a good and non murderous conversation with your killer’s body wouldn’t change that fact unless they saw who you really were. The soul trapped there with them. A wrongfully imprisoned woman who got tangled in this mess under sheer coincidence.

Who knows what William has done to your body if every death or win meant a day passed. For all you know, he could have started a new life, but you highly doubted it. If he was going to make your body do unspeakable things, you were gonna be pissed. Once you got out of this hell you would…

You would…

Oh man, what would you do? You hadn’t really thought about it until now. You had been far too busy dying and focusing on your survival to really sit down and think. The final bell rang and the lights flickered to a brighter setting, signifying you ‘won’ for the night and you sat down at the desk in the room, resting your head down on the cool wood that was covered in your blood last run. When you weren’t dying, the cool surface actually felt nice…

“(Y/N)? You still alive in there?” Elizabeth’s voice sounded. You look over, resting your left cheek on the desk as you stared down at the red-headed child at the right side door. You smile softly at her and sat back up.   
  


“Yeah. No trauma here tonight, Lizzy. Not gonna lie, being cracked like a glow stick last time was not fun.”

“I know, and I apologize. I was just following the rules.”

“I know, kid.”

She ran up to you and took your hands. “I talked to some of the others and two of them want to meet you.” She stated. “They’re very nervous, but I told them you wouldn’t hurt them.”

“Then let’s go meet them.”

Elizabeth smiled brightly and pulled you to your feet and lead you out of the office you fought for your life in. The halls were different from the ‘pizzeria’ halls you were used to. Faded orange and white paisley wallpaper and oak baseboards lined the hallway; your shoes clicking softly against the hardwood floor. You looked to the girl next to you and saw she had a small smile on her face as she lead you which caused you to slime as well. She seemed excited to show her friends who you were.

Just like the last few times you had won, you heard whispers and slamming doors as the spirits of children hid from who they thought you were. You just hoped one day, one of the bigger spirits realized you weren’t William. God in heaven you hoped that’d be soon. You were so in your own head space that you didn’t realize Elizabeth stopped you from walking until she spoke up.

“I’m going to tell them you’re here. I’ll tell you to come in when they’re ready for you.”

“Oh! Um… yeah! Sounds like a plan.” You smile down at her and nod as she walks into what looked like a living room. From your spot, you hear two other small voices as Elizabeth joins them.

“Okay. I got them in the hallway.”

“Lizzy… are you sure they aren’t… him?”

“I’m positive Susie. (Y/N) is very nice. You can tell they aren’t my father because their eyes aren’t silver. They’re (E/C). You can look for yourself.”

“Right… Okay…”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Everything will be fine Parker. I swear on it.”

The two new voices whisper to one another before you hear your name. You take a deep breath, let it out, and walk into view. Along with Elizabeth, you saw two other kids. A boy and girl that looked a bit younger then the Afton daughter; the little girl more so. The boy had soft chocolate brown hair combed to the right, blue eyes and wore a blue turtleneck sweater and khaki pants. The girl was bright blond hair in a bob haircut and hazel eyes that wore a white collared shirt under a pink overall skirt with pink and white striped stockings. The redhead took your hand and walked you over to the two.

“Parker, Susie, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), this is Parker and Susie.”

“Hey you two.” You crouch down to make yourself smaller as the two seemed to look very nervous. “I know I look like the man who hurt you, but I can assure you that I’m not.”

“That’s what Lizzy told us… Are you sure you’re not him?” Parker asked.

“I’m positive.”

The kids look to one another and Susie speaks up. “I believe you. Mister Afton was never someone that wanted to talk to us…”

“Well you can always talk to me. I promise I’ll listen.”

—————

You talked with the two new (to you) children in the very 70’s living room and you learned quite a lot. Susie was the third child to die by William’s hands. She had been celebrating a classmate’s 6th birthday the day she died. She and 3 other children were lured into the back by a Golden Bonnie although… it looked funny. He wore a purple vest and bowtie. She was the first of the group to get attacked and the last to lose consciousness. Waking up on that stage days later was… unreal. She told you about how every time she saw William she wanted to break Chica’s coded actions and break him like he broke her. The way she spoke was melancholic and lost…

“I miss my mommy so much.” Those words broke your heart.

“I’m sure she misses you too, Susie…” You told her softly as you braided her hair.

Parker was the spirit that embodied the bizarre amalgamation that was ‘The Music Man’. He wasn’t like the others that were killed in various pizzerias. He was kidnapped from a park near his house by the purple skinned man telling him his mother asked him to pick him up. He believed William. He was knocked out and woke up in a strange place. Metallic walls and floors... He saw robots like the ones at Freddy and Friends, only made of pure metal and plastic. Each unique in their looks. A white and pink Foxy, a ballerina, a beaver…

‘ _ Oh… You’re still alive… Guess it wasn’t a high enough dosage… _ ’

He saw other kids, but some were melded with the machinery… Blood and insides were strewn about on tables. He felt so sick. He wished he hadn't followed William. He felt every sharp jab and prod as he was 'stuffed'...

You sat there on the couch, comforting the children as they told their stories. Susie now with braided hair and both her and Parker were resting against you. Elizabeth sat on your lap as you braided her hair as well. The four of you sat in a comfortable silence. Like a parent and their children spending quality time together. You weren't going to lie, you always wanted to be a parent, you just didn't expect it would be like this. The children seemed to trust you, which was nice, but you could still feel eyes on you. More kids who were scared. How many did William kill? You were certain you’ve met all the animatronics, but you weren’t sure now.

Elizabeth was about to speak when she felt a shiver run through her.

“You need to get back to the office… and you need to do it soon.”

“Right…” She slipped off your lap and you got up. You looked to the children and give them a smile. “You three be good, alright?”

“We’ll try to be!” Parker replied.

“No promises.” Suzie retorted.

You let out a laugh and offer a wave goodbye before heading back down one of the hallways. Usually the feeling of being watched would stop as you made your way back to the office, but it felt different. Someone was watching you as the lights flickered, telling you time was running short before your new ‘game’ began. A Figure stood at the end of the hallway and you stopped, your heart dropping. A small smile on a white face with purple and red makeup. The Marionette… 

“ _ You know… I must be honest William. This little game you’re playing isn’t funny.” She said, walking casually towards you, arms folded and a frown soon replacing her smile. “You maybe able to convince the others you’re different, but not me. _ ”

You sigh. “I’m not who you think I am, Marionette. This is a mistake that can be reversed if you only look at who I am.”

“ _ Don’t try to wriggle your way out of your fate. You know what you’ve done… All of this because your own kin killed another… _ ”

“...It’s not true…”

“ _ Don’t lie! I was there! My family was there! The one you shouldn’t have killed was there! _ ” She screamed, causing you to flinch slightly. “ _ Do  _ ** _NOT_ ** _ try to backpedal on your misdoings! We know who you are and we are  _ ** _NOT_ ** _ afraid of you. Not anymore! _ ”

The slender hand of the puppet darted out and wrapped around your throat and pulling up, lifting you off the floor, causing you to let out a choked cry. “ _ The others are under mine and the one you shouldn’t have killed’s protection. If you dare lay a finger on any of them again, I will not hesitate to kill you again, and again, and again. No matter what the outcome is, no matter if you win or lose, no matter if I’m ‘active’ or not. I will hunt you down and I will kill you like you killed me decades ago. _ ”

She squeezes your neck a bit harder and held you there for a few more seconds after finishing her threat before effortlessly tossing you back into the office and leaving. You slid to an abrupt stop when your back hit the desk and you groaned in pain. If she was going to play hardball… then so be it. You’d make her see eventually, even if that meant befriending every restless spirit around her.


	20. Acting Up

William took a step back to inspect his handiwork. Good to know he still got it when it came to robotics. Sure, the metal and fabric were a bit rusted and worn, and the synthetic material was corroded… but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t take care of. He’d been working on an unfinished project. A failsafe in case things went… south… It was something he’d wanted to finish sooner, but plans changed. They always change. Not this time though. He’d make sure of it.

Sitting on the table in front of him sat an animatronic, more advanced than the last ones he’d made in the 80s. The body he had taken over had smaller fingers that allowed him to work things into smaller parts, so this made his creation look daintier and more feminine. More delicate.

More human.

Synthetic deep brunette hair against a vitiligo splotched face with rosy metallic cheeks. The body was covered with a white blouse, an open purple vest patterned with white stars, black pants and shoes, and to top it all off: a purple ascot-like scarf held with a golden star clip. As William looked over her final appearance, he took her hand, flipped it palm-up, and popped open the wrist compartment. The final piece would solidify his plans. If he ever went down again, someone would be there to pick up where he left off.

He hooked up a small box to the wiring of the wrist and shut the compartment once more. Once in place, he slipped a device around his stolen wrist. It looked like a Fitbit in a way, but this one was special. It tracked the body’s heart rate and fed the information to the animatronic. If the body’s heart ever stopped and ceased to start again, it would activate the robot and it’s directive.

The Virus Assistant for Neutralizing New Youth, or Vanny had only one goal; pick up where William left off. He did a final check and nodded in approval, making a note to make sure to leave the code for things in the workshop for the bot to use. After one more calibration, William turned and left. Who knew what time it was, but it was weird to feel tired after all this time. If he had to guess, it would have to be close to 4am. He could make the half-hour drive back to (Y/N)’s apartment if he listened to music. After grabbing a few extra things, he turned tail and headed back out.

—————

William awoke from a deep sleep. He hadn’t slept in so long and he forgot how nice it felt to sleep. No animatronics to kill him. No vengeful spirits. Just a dreamless sleep which he was fine with. Anything was better than dealing with a bunch of bratty spirits. Anything. He would have stayed in bed had it not been for the things he needed to get done before that night. Rolling out of bed, he got to work. He had a good 12 hours to get what he needed to get done before he could set his plan in motion. Unlike before, this body had a very ‘eyes and hands on’ job at the building, so donning a mascot suit and killing children in the back room wasn’t an ideal thing… He’d need to sneak in and try to find the plans for the whole building. There had to be something he could do. There was no way he was going to pass up the chance.

He got ready for the day, making sure to clean up quite well and left to scout out the building and just take time to live life. He had time, right? He could take things as slow as he wanted. Not like (Y/N) could get out anytime soon. It took him years to figure out he could bring people to the Hellscape. Given she fell for his stories, she would be there awhile before she would be able to do the same. Not like those kids would ever help her. They’re kids! What could they do other than throw fits and murder his body. Pathetic.

He drove around the town for a bit before parking at the fun center, watching as young families started to roll in. These kids were too young for their parents to think it was okay to leave them alone. Damn it… he missed the good old days where parents just let their kids run loose and only expected them to be home by sundown. This would make him work for his prize. Not to mention there would most likely be more cameras now-a-days. He’d have to figure out where they were and shut off the ones he needed to use. After a few more minutes of watching, he got out of the Jeep and made his way inside. Just because (Y/N) was given the day off didn’t mean he couldn’t come in.

As he walked in, he gave a wave to the front counter where Violet was. She seemed surprised and walked over.

“(Y/N)! Why are you here? My dad gave you the day off.” The purple phonehead commented.

“I wanted to come by and say hey.” William lied in reply. “Maybe get some food before heading back out. Is everything alright?”

“W-well, yeah. If you’re worried about Freddy and the others, they’re okay. They seemed upset when you left early, but it’s understandable given those dizzy spells you had… but don’t worry! Luca and I have been making sure they’re alright.”

“That’s good. Wouldn’t want anyone worrying any more than they have.”

Violet gave a nod, patting his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you seated and food in your stomach.”

She lead William into the dining area and offered him a seat at a table closest to the stage. ‘Do you know what you’d like? I know you usually get Pizza, but that’s gotta be really boring to get that every day.”

“I don’t think I’ve really checked out the menu.”

“Oh! That’s probably why. I’ll get Em to get you one. It’s good to know you’re alright (Y/N).” She replied before turning and heading out. 

Once she left, William rolled his eyes. She was Scott’s brat alright. He thought he killed her… It was a shame really. That was the only time he was almost caught. That made him rethink how he did his killings. Maybe if he was quicker or waited until later.

As he mused about the past, He didn’t notice someone stop in front of him until he has tapped on the head, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looks up and sees Freddy. He seemed relieved to see William… or who William was impersonating. 

“(Y/N)! You left so suddenly yesterday! You had us all worried!” He stated. Great… An over enthusiastic Freddy… and he thought Chica from his time was the most annoying.

“Y-yeah. I know, but I’m okay now. It was just a dizzy spell yesterday. I’m fine though.” William told the animatronic bear.

“So, you’re going to come back today?”

“Not today, but tomorrow, Freddy.” This reply made the animatronic look saddened, but his expression changed back to joyful.

“Sounds great! I’ll make sure to tell the others. They’ll be so happy to know that you’re okay.”

“Good idea. I wouldn’t want to worry anyone further than I already have.” If William could gag without giving away his discomfort, he would. God these animatronics liked this woman. It was disgusting. What made her so special?

Soon, a grey skinned waitress walked over to talk, handing a menu over and just chatting and spewing answers he’d already said. Was everyone buddy-buddy with this girl?! He hated it. He hated all of it. He just wanted to scope out the place, eat, and leave to figure out what to do. Skimming over the menu, he chose a burger and some fries. He didn’t want his first real meal to be greasy pizza. He’d eaten enough pizza in his lifetime that he’d be fine with not eating it for as long as he lived. Once the waitress left, William started to take a look at everything once he was allowed to. He noticed two cameras situated on either side of the dining area; one facing the stage from the main entrance to the area and one facing the dining area from the stage.

He’d need to do a walk around unless he wanted to wait until he broke in to figure out where things were. If he could get access to the cameras, then maybe he could figure out vantage points from there. Unfortunately, cameras were never his strong suit… but maybe if he could make something to tap into the cameras… That maybe the best thing to do.

—————

The day seemed to breeze by and once night fell, William was back at the Building, but he made sure not to park near in order to steer clear of the cameras. The body he possessed was now clothed in a dark hood and pants. The womanly face of (Y/N) was covered with a surgical mask and sunglasses and her hands were adorned with gloves. He made his way to the employee entrance and got to work picking the lock. He hadn’t broken into a place since he was… what… 19? He’d made sure to keep the keys to every location he worked at, so he would never consider that as breaking in. Freddy Fazbear was co-founded by him, so technically it was his right… right?

There was a faint ‘click’ and he slowly pulled the door open. He flipped on a flashlight, and made his way inside. The easy part was done. William just hoped it was all just as easy as he crept through the small hallway and into the fun center. He had to get to the security office, implant his little tapping device, and steal plans to the animatronics and possibly tamper with them if he could. He stopped for a moment to listen for footsteps. When he heard nothing, he got to sneaking around again. As he reached the dining area, he heard a door open and someone speak up.

“I know someone’s out there. I saw you on the cameras. You know… it’s not really wise to wonder around here.” Ah yes… William recognized that voice. Vincent. His little lost cause. He would have been a nice substitute for his fall if the legal system hadn’t decided he wasn’t the one who killed those kids. Like he’d thought before; needles would have looked so good on him.

“You don’t want to come out? Alright then, I guess I have to come find you~ I always love a game of cat and mouse.” 

Game on Vince. Game on.

William loved a game of chase. He’d been a pro at it. Unlike Vincent, he didn’t have any vantage with cameras… at least, not yet. Thanks to the smaller frame of this feminine body, he’d easily slip passed Vincent if he was quick enough. As he heard the older night guard start his rounds, that’s when he would move, going the opposite direction and easily slipped into the security office. He allowed the door to close softly behind him and surveyed what he was working with. The far wall was dedicated to housing twelve different camera feeds, each showing various parts of the establishment as well as a desk and two cushioned chairs. The wires that hooked up the monitors to a central control tower was what he needed to look for as the control tower was what he needed to hook his device to. Pulling the small USB looking device from the hoodie’s pocket he lifted the glasses and got to work locating the tower.

Finding it behind a curtained table, he located an open port on the back of it and plugged the device in. If everything worked correctly, he’d be able to tap into the camera’s via (Y/N)’s phone once a connection was established. It would take a few minutes, but as long as the connection wasn’t severed, he’d be just fine. He took a step back and put the cloth back in place before turning to leave, that’s when the door opened and his only escape was blocked. Fuck.

“You know, it’s a pretty risky and stupid move to trap yourself in a room with only one exit.” Came Vincent’s voice as he leaned against the doorway, placing the tablet on the table closest to the door and walking forward. “Did you get lost? Or is this exactly where you wanted to be? Hm?”

“That’s really none of your concern, Vincent.” William replied. “I’m honestly surprised Scott even gave you a job back with the franchise.”

The purple skinned man’s eyebrow raised in a silent question. “Not many women know about who I am, little finch. Who are you?”

“That’s give away the surprise and what’s the fun in ruining the surprise?”

“That’s true, but I can’t let you go.” He smiled a Cheshire grin and stepped forward. “And even if you wanted to, I would never let that happen easily.”

“I’m just a simple woman, Vincent. Let’s be civil here. We wouldn’t want any… unnecessary injury.”

“And who are you to talk about unnecessary injury? I don’t ever recall there being a female night guard.”

“And I never realized you got out of prison, yet here we are.”

Vincent ran over to grab and pin William, but the smaller was quicker, ducking down and throwing the other over his shoulder and onto the floor behind him and started running for the exit. Given the dark clothes, he slipped into the dining area and climbed onto the stage, slipping behind the curtain and waiting. He heard Vincent’s footfalls run into the dining area, stop, and continued on his way. William breathed out a sigh of relief and fished out (Y/N)’s phone. He might have to skip taking the plans and tampering with the band. That was fine. Even just getting one thing done was better than not.

He booted up the app that he threw together for the cameras and smiled triumphantly as the connection finally synced up and the main stage camera feed was shown along with a camera map of the whole fun center in a nice drop down menu. He flipped through each camera until he was satisfied and pocketed the phone once more. He’d finalize everything once he got back to (Y/N)’s apartment. Carefully sliding out from his hiding spot, he snuck his way back out of the building and ran off to where he parked.

Tomorrow was going to be fun.

—————

A voice piped up once the phone was answered. “H...hello?”

“Scott, it’s me…”

“Vincent… what time is it?”

“Around two in the morning. Listen Scotty, someone broke in.”

A shuffle was heard. “Someone broke in? Who?”

“No clue, they had their face covered, I’m doing a sweep, and they’ve taken nothing… but something’s off.”

“Right, right. Um… Okay! Um I’ll be there soon.”


	21. Where Have You Been?

It was getting easier and easier to survive the nights. Not because you’ve gotten better and better at predicting who would appear, but because the animatronics were being nicer to you and cutting you some slack. Maybe it was due to you actually trying to get to know them when you win? That’s probably why. The only ones who wouldn’t let up were Marionette, Golden Freddy, Springtrap and Scraptrap. Meeting the last two was… horrible. Being stuffed into the old moldy suit of Springtrap only to have your organs pulled through the holes by Scraptrap sent shivers through you every time you thought back to it. Seeing your lower intestines before dying was not fun. Both of them knew how to keep a person alive while disemboweling them and that was terrifying to you.

Golden Freddy was the ‘nicest’ of the four; if you could call him that. He at least killed you with a sharp snap of your neck when he got to you. Marionette was happy to throw you like a rag doll into things before ripping you in half. Anytime those four were together, they came at you with everything they had and you couldn’t keep up for the life of you. It seemed like more often then not, the four were chosen to torture you over anyone else. Now that you thought about it; the only animatronic you hadn’t seen since you got there was Lefty. Poor guy… You missed his quips and curiosity that was just him as a whole. You missed his protective nature and how you two could talk about anything with one another. He basically became your best friend.

You hear footfalls approaching the right side of the office so you shut the door and leaned against it while checking the cams. As you flip through the cameras, you looked at who was close by. Toy Bonnie was wandering the hallways towards the trap door he usually crawled through. Mister Hippo was in the heating vent as well. Well, at least he was easy to trick and get rid of. You were quite fond of the Melody’s. The five of them were some of the oldest when they died. The youngest was Happy Frog at age 10 while the eldest was Pig Patch at age 14. They were also some of the last kids to meet you. Not that they didn’t trust you from what others have told them, but for the soul reason that they usually kept to one another. It’s understandable as the group was forever stuck as tweens and teens.

You opened the door behind you and started to walk off when you heard whispers in the darkness. That meant the trash gang was here as well. Damn it, you hated those hunks of junk. They were just toys. No souls controlled them, they were always just there as a stand in for someone else. Not to mention the air horns that go off when they got into the office. The ringing in your ears always hurts. There was no denying that. You were focused on the whispers to the point that you didn’t notice the animatronic looming behind you until you were grabbed and slammed into the wall by the door. Dammit, what won’t ever stop hurting.

“ _ You’ll pay for hurting (Y/N) the way you did… _ ”

You felt a cold shiver run through you and tears to come to your eyes. “Lefty..?”

You tried to crane your neck to look back at the black bear animatronic, but his hand pressed against your neck squeezed as you tried to move.

“ _ You don’t get to call me that. I never gave you permission and you will never be forgiven for anything you’ve done. Don’t you dare try to weasel your way out of this. _ ”

“Lefty! Listen to me! I’m not William! It’s me! If you’d just look at me! Like,  ** _REALLY_ ** look at me!”

“ _ You’re lying. Look at you. Pathetic and begging. _ ” You cried out in pain as you felt his fingers close around your throat. “ _ You’ll never be anything but a murderer and a fraud. Try to remember that, William. _ ”

Lefty’s words hurt. You damned the man that made you into who he was.You felt like crying as your windpipe was crushed and you were let go to fall to the floor. Blood coming up as you sputter for air. You felt tears spill down your face as you looked up at the animatronic. You wanted to speak up at him, but you just couldn’t find the strength as you sank to the floor and suffocated slowly. Your vision blurred and the world grew dark around you, a twisted face of agony permanently plastered on your stolen face.

You came to on the floor where you died, though the blood had seemingly been cleaned up. Lingering pain was awful, but you still felt like you couldn’t breath. It was awful. Rubbing your neck, you got to your feet slowly. Your legs felt like jell-o as you slowly made your way back to the desk and collapsed in the seat. It felt horrible. Everything felt awful. Sure, you’d feel better when you won, but with how hard it was to breath at the moment, that felt almost impossible. You prayed you’d get an easy crew to work with, but you knew that probably wouldn’t happen. You weren’t the master of this realm, you were the player. It was like an endless roller coaster that you’d like to get off of due to how frequent the track changed.

Although the bell hadn’t chimed, you heard footfalls in the hallway that stopped nearby and you could tell you were being watched. You looked at the left door and saw the one-eyed bear just watching you. You turned away to cough and you heard him speak.

“ _ The others have been nicer… less violent towards you… I don’t get it… why is that…? _ ” He asked openly. Silence fell between the two of you before he continued. “ _ You killed each one of them… in sick, twisted ways… yet they talk to you when you win. They tell you their stories and want you to play with them… _ ”

“Maybe it’s because I’m not who you think I am, Lefty…” You finally managed to choke out. “The body was once him, but it isn’t now… I’m honestly trying my hardest to get you to see that…”

“ _ You’re lying… _ ” The bear growled. “You just want to get out… but you’ll never escape.”

“I’m not- I’m not lying! How can I get you to believe me?”

“ _ I’ll never believe you… _ ”

The bell rang and the lights dimmed, causing his eye to illuminate a small surface around his face.

“Lefty…”

“ _ Just because you severed my connection with her doesn’t mean you get to talk to me like she did! _ ” He snapped, something seemed to hold him in place although he was not free to hurt and maim you where you sat. “ _ You’ll pay for ever harming her! When I get her back, if anything has happened to her while I’ve been gone you will never be able to ‘win’ again! _ ”

The bear turned around and vanished into the darkness. You watched and listened as his footsteps faded into nothing. Poor Lefty… You should have known he’d also be a hard cookie to crack… but you two had become so close over the past few months. You dying here must have caused him so much grief. He couldn’t protect you, but he still knew that your body was alive and well. To be honest, you were tired. Should you even continue fighting when there were still animatronics out there wanting you dead? Sure, most have seen though your prison, but others haven’t fully accepted who you are. Who you once were. They refused to listen to reason and wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you. You felt so small. Sure, you were a fully grown adult, but that was becoming harder and harder to pull off when all you wanted to do was cry.

Although you didn’t feel tired, you wanted to sleep. You wanted this bad dream to just go away. To leave you alone even for a little while. Maybe you’d actually been in a comatose state or maybe you were paying for your sins when you were alive. But do the sins of your being really constitute this type of punishment? You could feel your resolve finally breaking. A great depression seep into your soul as you decided, against better judgement, to crawl under the desk and let yourself just break. You were always an ugly crier, but it didn’t matter here. Not anymore.


	22. Old Habits

William walked into the Fun Center the next morning like nothing had happened the night prior. He’d taken some time during the night once he had gotten home to flip through where the cameras were. There were 15 in total; meaning this was something he would have to work around and find the best routes to do what he needed to do. The program made wasn’t much, but he could manipulate them to work for him. He could roll back the feed and play it on a loop. He could turn the camera’s off or disable the recording feature. He had a lot to play with. Even so, he needed to do more. He needed to think outside of his old M.O. The old William. Oh, who was he kidding, he was still himself, but because of his little run-in with Vincent, he wasn’t able to get the things done that he needed to, but that’s why you always have a ‘Plan B’.

His new plan? Simple, dispose of anyone he nabs in the cover of night. Saint George was an oasis in the middle of a desert. Driving out a few miles and burying a few bodies wouldn’t be a problem around here. He’d made sure to line the trunk of the jeep with trash bags duct taped which would make clean-up easier and evidence could be disposed of. Stowed and wrapped in a dish towel was a hammer at the bottom of the bag (Y/N) would carry into work along with a bottle of perm solution he’d bought the day prior. He was lucky that it was normal now-a-days for people toting around their own bags. You could carry just about anything without anyone blinking an eye at you! It was great! It was the best thing about the ‘modern age’.

“Good morning, everyone!” William faked a happy attitude as he met up with (Y/N)’s teammates who were all chatting to one another. Emily looked over and nodded.

“Hey (Y/N), did you hear what happened last night? Someone broke in, but didn’t steal anything.”

“Really? That’s weird.” William replied.

“Exactly! Who breaks into a place just to break in? At least take like… a chair or something!”

“Emily!” Violet interrupted. “This is serious! What if something happens? The could have been scouting the place!”

“Vi, not to be that person, but nothing has happened since this place opened at the beginning of this year. Who in their right mind would wanna start shit again?”

“Maybe… and I’m just spit-balling here, but what if this place is doomed to fail again?” Luca piped up. “Let’s face it, everything that has happened in the company has been tragedy after tragedy. It’s like the name ‘Freddy Fazbear’ is cursed.”

The group looked to Luca who seemed to grow red from everyone looking at him. “B-but that’s just a dumb little theory! Don’t mind me!”

“Who knows.” William replied, giving a shrug to the mechanic. “You might be onto something.”

“I mean… the evidence is all there. I wouldn’t put it past this place to be haunted or cursed.” Asher piped up. “You know how our parents get when talking about their time here. You also know how antsy they all were coming home this morning because of what happened last night.”

“They’re all going to be here today as ‘hidden security’ all day today just in case.” Andrew added. “So if someone was casing the place to do anything today, they probably wouldn’t be able to.”

“Still. Keep on your toes everyone. If you see anything, report it to me or our parents. Don’t let anyone else in on this, we don’t want panic among the staff. Let alone the customers...” Violet stated. The others nodded and split off to put their things away for the day before getting to work setting up for the day. 

—————

The building was packed due to schools being out for the fall break, but it was nothing compared to what William has gone through for the past two decades. Walking around, chatting with a fake smile. Interacting like he was (Y/N). He felt so gross. As he walked around, he slipped into a part of the Fun Center he’d never been before. He would watch the waitstaff go in and out of a curtained off area with a neon ‘Laser Tag’.

‘The kitchen must be back there,’ He thought, ‘but what else is…?’

He slipped through the curtains to a dimly lit area only illuminated by ultraviolet lights and illuminated floor strips that sectioned off a good four columns of laser tag vests. He could hear the muffled clattering and laughs from the kitchen in the corner and -after giving a wave to the kid manning the small laser tag booth- made his way over to the back near the kitchen. As he made his way over, he noticed something. A door under the staircase leading up to the laser tag arena. A hidden little alcove between the kitchen and stairs that was practically invisible unless you were looking for it. He tried the door handle and his smile only grew bigger as he realized it opened and there was a fair amount of space inside it. A storage space of sorts. A perfect little place for him. He’ll move his things here at lunch.

Closing the door, he snuck back out to continue his facade. He went to gather the animatronic band to start their next show and to watch the crowds of people in order to pick out his new targets.

—————

Momma had let me stay and watch Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy while she goes out to get some gas in her car and do her ‘are ends’ whatever those are. I don’t like ‘are ends’. They take too long and I get bored. I don’t know how adults do it. It seems too hard. I don’t ever wanna grow up. I wanna be a kid forever and ever. Being an adult would be super lame and dumb and stupid. Momma says everyone grows up when they have to…

Freddy and his friends played really cool music. Not that dumb baby stuff. Only babies listen to baby music and I’m no baby! I’m five! That means I’m not a baby! I haven’t been a baby for forever and I’m not going back to it! Nope! I’m a big boy now! And big kids love Freddy and his friends! Big kids don’t like baby stuff. Ever.

I noticed a lot as I watched. Other big kids and their parents, the people bringing food, and the lady at the front… I’ve only been here a few times because momma’s always busy, but every time I have been, that lady’s been here. She seems nice. Freddy and his friends really like her. Does she live here? It seems like it. Maybe I should ask her? Maybe I can help her with working? I’m very good at working. I help momma all the time with working around the house! Maybe I could help her too!

I pushed through the crowd of other people and tapped her arm. She jumped and looked down at me before crouching slightly.

“Hello little one.” She calmly spoke. “Are you okay? Where’s your parents?”

“Oh! Momma left me here while she runs are ends.” I told her. She looked confused.

“You mean errands?”

“Yeah! Those things!”

“And she trusts you to be alone? But you’re so young.”

“I’m not a baby!” I reply. “I can take care of myself! I’ve done it a lot of times!”

“Oh?” She smiled. “And what can I help you with little mister independent?”

“I wanna help you with work! Can I help you with work?” I ask. Again, she looks confused.

“You wanna help me with my work?” She asked. “Why’s that?”

“Because I’m a hard worker and my momma always told me to help others anytime you can!”

She let out a small laugh and pat my head. “Your momma sounds like a smart woman. Tell you what; there’s a little alcove that I’m cleaning up after this. I could use some help, but don’t tell anyone, okay? It’s a surprise for some coworkers of mine. If you promise to stay quiet about it, then you can help me.”

“Okay! I promise!”

To be honest… I wish I’d remembered Momma’s warnings about stranger danger.

—————

My best friend in the whole wide world is having a party today! After this, we’re gonna go have a sleepover! Of course, it isn’t just me. There’s a lot of other kids from our class! I’ve never been to a sleepover before, but I’m happy my parents are letting me stay for the night! Since a lot of other kids will be there, I can make even more friends! A few of us ran to the arcade to play, each with a card in hand. I don’t get to play in big, fancy places all that often, so being here has made this the best day ever in my life! It was nice to not have to worry about my parents worrying about me. I know they do so much for me and I’m very grateful for everything. I want to try and get them something to say thank you. I know it won’t be much, but I hope they like it very much.

I have a plan and I’m happy to be around my friends and classmates! If I do this right and get a lot of highscores, then I can get something fun for my parents! The animatronics were walking around and interacting with the crowds. I like them! I think Chica is my favorite! She’s very cool and I like how she talks! It reminds me of my grandma. I love my grandma. There was another lady too. The host of the party called her ‘The Animatronic’s Manager’. Apparently she takes care of them and makes sure they don’t get into trouble. She looked cool, but I haven’t seen her around since we watched the band last. It seemed weird, but maybe she was busy?

After a bit of playing, I got a few hundred points. I couldn’t get anything big I’m pretty sure, but I’m sure I can get something both mom and dad would like. I started walking over to the counter when I noticed her. The manager. She looked like she was chatting with the person at the counter. As I ran up, the person behind the counter smiled at me.

“Hey there, sweetie. Did you want to exchange your points for a prize or two?”

I nodded and held out my card. They took it, scanned it and smiled. “You have seven-hundred points to spend. What would you like?”

“Wow, that’s a lot of points.” The manager lady spoke up. “You did pretty good, kid.”

“Thank you!” I replied, scanning the shelves and behind the see-through glass cabinet. “Do you have anything I can get my parents? I wanna get them something.”

The prize counter person looked surprised but nodded. “I think we do. What do your parents like?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I know my mom likes jewelry and my dad has an old coin collection.”

The prize counter person thought for a minute. “We have jewelry and collectible tokens, but I’m not sure you can get both.”

I frowned. That… wasn’t good. I didn’t wanna get them only one thing.

“Oh, come on Trey.” The manager replied. “She seems like a good kid. She can use some of mine to get her parents something they’d like.”

“You sure, (Y/N)?” Trey asked. The lady nodded and fished hers out, handing it over and smiling down at me.

“I don’t use it much anyway. I just play for fun when I can.” She gives me a wink. “Pick what you want to give your parents, kid. I’m sure they’ll love what you get them.”

I smiled brightly and chose two things. The first was a pretty necklace with a tophat charm dangling from it. The second thing was a Faz-Token with Freddy’s face on it! I’m sure my parents will like it! I took back my card and the lady was already walking off after telling Trey goodbye.

“Ma’am!” I ran over to walk with her after thanking the prize corner guy. “Thank you for letting me use your points.”

“It’s not a problem, kid.” The lady replied. “It’s always nice to see kids wanna get nice things for their parents.”

“Where are you going right now?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Oh, I’m working on something for some of my co-workers. It’s been almost a year since this place opened and I thought I could make everyone something.”

“Oooh! That sounds cool! Can I help?”

“Sure. If you wanna come with me, I’ll show you what I’m working on.”

Had I known what her true intentions were… how I’d never see my parents after that day… I would have skipped the prize counter.


	23. Old Man Consequences

You gave up. That’s that. You’ve been keeping track of how many times you’ve died.

127 times. You’ve died 127 times. 

Strangulation, decapitation, burning, impalement… basically everything under the sun. You’ve experienced every death imaginable it seems. The children had kept you sane in the beginning. Telling you their stories and playing with you. Now it all feels like it’s not a reward, more like a numbing sensation to try and help you cope with the death you experience. You haven’t felt this broken in a long time. Not since high school. Not since you opened up to your parents and brothers about your anxieties and grief over feeling like you were only going through the motions of making them happy. You felt like you were going to break. Maybe you were already broken from all of this. Who knew? Not you.

You sat in the corner of the room, facing the doors of the office you were confined to for the night. You didn’t feel like sitting at the desk. It wasn’t a safe spot. It never was. You were at a point in your switcharoo where you just didn’t care if you survived or not. You felt yourself slipping back into the corners of your mind you thought you’d locked away years ago. You didn’t like it… but it was a welcome change of pace. The numbness was nice… better to help cope with this hell you were forced into.

The animatronics seemed to notice this change as well. The attacks seemed to only come from those who you hadn’t gotten through to. Like the children were now taking control of their walking prisons. Allowing you to have some nights where you could just be alone with them checking on you once the clock chimed. Your change of attitude from wanting to survive to just giving up was starting to worry them. Elizabeth especially. You became a parental figure to her. A parent that she hadn’t had in a long time. She had told you a lot about William. How he used to be before her little brother’s death. Her mother. Everything was better back then.

With how you sat there; lost and alone. She needed to do something. Your animatronic mindset wanted her to rip you to shreds. To take William’s body and rip it limb from limb… but…

You heard footsteps enter the room. You didn’t acknowledge them until you didn’t feel hands on you. Instead you heard the sound of someone sitting down with a metallic ‘thud’. Looking up slightly, you locked eyes with Elizabeth’s animatronic prison, Baby.

“You caught me... Why are you holding back?” You muttered out, not an ounce of worry in your voice. Green eyes blinked back at you as the animatronic’s eyebrows furrowed.

“It’s not fun when you’re emotionless.” She replied back. “You’re hurting, but not in the way that would make them smile.”

“I’m… I hate it here. I shouldn’t even be here, Baby…” You mutter out, leaning your head against the wall. “For all I know, I could have been here for months and nothing changes. I try to survive, I die… I get taunted by those who only know about William’s misdeeds… not me. I wish I hadn’t come here… I know it wasn’t myself who brought me here, but I still feel responsible for everything.”

Baby listened to your loatheful musings, her body twitching slightly as Elizabeth fought with the instinct to kill you. Lizzy was worried. Really worried.

“(Y/N)...” She spoke up. “I wish I could do something. I can’t though… you’re stuck here until Charlotte and Sammy-”

You looked at her with confusion. You haven’t met any children with those names. Were they..?

You weren’t given time to ask as Baby moved quickly, making you let out a yelp before her hand covered your mouth and whispered a ‘shh’ to you. She stood you up and turned around so she stood in front of you as someone entered the office. You couldn’t see who it was, but you could hear them.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know, Marionette. William was gone by the time I moved. I did not hear him leave though. I’ve checked everywhere though. Maybe he’s in the darkness, trying to escape.”

“Then why are you still here?!”

“Just in case he comes back.”

You didn’t hear footsteps, but you could hear Baby sigh with relief.

“(Y/N), she will be back. Charlotte is a very smart girl and will realize that I lied about where you are. You need to get out of here. Get outside. Take the left hallway and go the opposite direction. You will be followed, but don’t stop running. The door will open and you can leave, but you will be brought back once they know you left the building. Until then, you will have time to decompress. Go.”

You pat the animatronic. “Thank you, Elizabeth.”

Walking out from behind her, you took off down the hallway she told you to take, letting the darkness envelope you into its embrace. It felt like you were pushing your way through molasses, but you kept going. You had to. It meant freedom. It meant you could be free from the weight of this damned place. Even for a little while. If Baby was correct, then you would finally be able to breath. Finally feel safe. Feeling what felt like claws on your back made you keep moving. Fear that if you stopped, you would be dragged back.

It felt like you were going nowhere, but soon you saw a set of double doors. Hope flooded your senses and gave you the energy to make it the remainder of the way. You forced your borrowed body against the door and fell to the concrete ground outside William’s prison. You took a second to breath, but once you realized where you were, tears welled up in your eyes. Outside the haunted hellscape was… a beautiful meadow surrounding the entirety of the building. A concrete pathway lead from the doors you came out of to the forest beyond the meadow. Looking back, you watched as the decrepit doors swung shut and changed to look as if they were brand new. Wiping away your tears, you dusted William’s body off and began your walk.

The air that filled your lungs felt fresh unlike the stale rooms you had been in for quite some time. The smell of rain hitting your nose as you walked. You liked the smell of an oncoming rainstorm, that meant the world around you would have an air about it that felt new. You couldn’t put it into words, but you really loved what it did to the world around you.

The trees grew thicker as you ventured further into the forest, but something compelled you to move as you looked at every little thing that caught your eye or ear. The sound of birds chirping, butterflies fluttering, did you just see a deer in the distance? If you ever get back to your body, you should go hiking again. You hadn’t been in a long time. Hopefully then you could do it without fear of being found. As you continued to walk, you started to hear humming. Human humming. It got louder and louder as you continued to walk and only stopped when you reached another clearing far in the heart of the forest.

There was a small lake where a single well kept dock where a humanoid sat. As you walked closer, you could see it looked like a red anthropomorphic crocodilian wearing overalls and a straw hat. He seemed to be fishing as his legs dangled off the edge of the dock.

“The children are restless, but thanks to your efforts, they have something to care about once more.” An old voice spoke, a slightly heavy southern drawl passing his lips. “Their minds know better, yet their ring leaders seem to still be blind.”

“You know what’s going on?” You asked.

“Come, sit and rest your bones for a while. You’ve earned a rest, miss.”

Nodding, you walk over and sit by him. “How do you know I’m not William?”

“I can see your intent. You never meant to be here. You’re just another victim of his ways.” The croc explained. “Unlike William, your soul is lighter. More pure. I cannot tell you what his intentions are, but I know it’s nothing good. Your body is in danger of becoming tainted by his soul and becoming just as rotten as he.”

You sigh. “I… I know… I wish I could do something… I wish I could do anything to stop him.”

The crocodile hummed in contemplation. “The soul is a powerful thing, miss. If you believe you can make a difference, then you can. There’s nothing stopping you other than your own mind.”

“...So… How did I get here?”

“His soul willed you here.” The crocodile looked to you as he reeled his fishing line in to re-bait it. “Like I said, the soul is a powerful thing. In this scape especially. A broken and desperate soul can do wonders once it’s broken. No matter how the children try, they cannot stop a soul on a mission, yet… they did figure out how to keep you safe until he broke.”

You listened to his words and watched him cast the line back into the lake. William willed you into this situation… but did that mean you had to break as well in order to will things into your situation? You already felt like you were at that point… so why couldn’t you try? Would it even work? Were you even broken enough?

“I want to be able to show them all… I want my body back… I want to look like me… I want Lefty to see that I’m here… I don’t want to die over and over again… but… I know I’ll be here for a while longer…”

“That sounds like quitter talk.” The crocodile chuckled. “Didn’t take you for a quitter.”

“I-I’m not a quitter!”

“Then don’t have that kind of attitude. Sure, times are tough, but they only get worse before they get better.” He looked back at you for a second or two before focusing back on his fishing. “Keep your chin up and things will fall where they are needed. Until that happens, leave your worries back with the demons and rest your soul ‘till you’re needed once again."


	24. Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Mom and Dad never really cared where I roamed as long as I came home by dinner. I know people give my parents dirty looks about me being something they call a ‘free roam kid’ due to how bad the world is, but I know my stranger danger and I know how to get out of situations I know I shouldn’t be in! Mom gave me pepper spray and Dad always told me to carry a knife around. Not like it mattered anyway, nothing ever happened. I decided to ditch those things at home today. Not like my parents will know. I left them somewhere they wouldn’t find them if they even cared to snoop around my room.

I had been saving up my allowance to spend the whole day playing at Freddy’s and today was the day. I made my way there and bought a pass to the arcade and laser tag for the day. I wanted this day to be fun. Maybe make some new friends. Who knows. My parents had given me a pretty cool watch on my last birthday and I use that to keep track of time. I had a good five hours to kill before I had to go. It would take a little to walk back home. Walking over to the arcade, I started there. As I played, or tried to, I took in where I was. I haven’t been here before, but I liked it. It was nice. Maybe Mom and Dad could bring me next time?

After a bit of time at the arcade, I got bored. Not because there weren’t any good games, because there were; but because waiting for the machines I wanted to play on was super boring. So I went to go find something else to do. Maybe I could check out the Laser Tag thing? I’ve only ever played it once before and from what I remember, it was really fun. As I made by way over, I took another good look at everything. The colors were really fun and the robots were cool. It made me happy. Then again, a lot of things made me happy, but this place made me happy too.

As I walked over, I noticed a woman exiting the place where the laser tag was. (H/C) hair, wearing the clothes other people that worked there were wearing. I passed her, giving her a small smile and she stopped to watch me enter the lobby of the arena… it was creepy. I didn’t wanna keep thinking about it though as I got scanned into the queue and given the rules run down as more kids and teenagers joined in. I like it when other kids my age join, cause that means we can team up! We get our vests on and checked and the laser guns given the same treatment.

“Alright everyone. Remember the rules, this is a free-for-all, the one with the highest score wins five-hundred tickets to spend at the prize corner.” The guy running the station told the group. “This is your last chance to back out for this round and each round is ten minutes long, or three songs. Afterwards, a buzzer will sound and that means to get back to the lobby which is illuminated clearly. No, you’re not allowed to hide in the laser tag arena afterwards.”

No one left, so the guy continued. “Alright. The first buzzer and your jackets lighting up will indicate the start of the match, so go up and have fun.”

We made our way up the stairs at the far end of the dark room and through a beaded curtain door. It looked like the one mom and dad have up in our house! I always liked that curtain. The dark lights lit up anything neon and one by one, everything I came up with split up; climbing up ramps and into tunnels. I took off in the opposite direction, staying near the walls. Once the buzzer started, it was amazing! The thumps of the music! The laser sounds! I loved every moment of it! After it was all over, I didn’t win. One of the teenagers did, but it was fun! Making our way back down the stairs and putting the vests away, I heard something. It sounded like it was coming from the stairs.

Looking where the guy watching the vests was, I saw he was looking the other way, so I slipped behind the rack I hung my vest up on and made my way towards the back. That’s when I found a door. A smaller door in the stairs like Harry Potter! I checked the doorknob and it was unlocked, so I turned it and pushed it open. That’s when I came face-to-face with the last person I’d ever meet.

All I remember is those purple eyes...

—————

“I don’t think we should be skipping.” I muttered to my best friend, Harley. Harley was always fun, but us slipping away from our group and coming here? I wanted to stay with our class, but Harley called me a chicken! I’m not a chicken!

“Come on, Paisley! It’s not like we’re doing anything _that _bad!”

“We snuck off from our school group!” I replied back. “Our parents are gonna be called and we’re gonna be in massive trouble!”

“I could just tell mine that the dumb daycare they call a school was lying.”

“Yeah, but that’s because your parents are cool and let you do whatever you want! Not mine! I’ll be grounded for like… a whole month!”

“Pfft! Not my problem, Paisley.”

My face grew hot. Harley was supposed to be my best friend, but they’re acting like they don’t care about me! We’re best friends! Or… I thought we were.

“Then I’m leaving! I thought we were friends! But I guess we aren’t!”

“Paisley, come on-”

“No! You’ve always been so mean to me! We always do what you wanna do and that always gets me in trouble! Leave me alone! I don’t wanna see you again!”

Harley tried to hug me, but I pushed her away and ran off into the crowd that was around much to the dismay of the guy at the front desk. I didn’t wanna stop. I didn’t wanna listen. I just wanted to hide. I didn’t want to listen, I just wanted to go back to our group! I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was, but once I found somewhere quiet and small… I started crying. I felt alone, I felt scared, I felt-

“Hey..? What’s wrong sweetie?” Came a sweet voice. I looked up and saw this lady with the prettiest purple eyes. I didn’t know that eyes could be purple! I wish my eyes were purple. “Why are you crying? Are you lost?”

I sniffled and nodded. “M-my stupid friend turned out to be a dumb, stupid jerk and we’re not friends anymore.”

“Well that’s not very nice to say.” The lady replied, sitting near me. “But are you alone here? Where’s your group or family?”

“We… my friend, Harley and I… we ditched our school thing.”

“I see… You know… That’s not a good thing to do.” The woman told me. “You should always stay in school and learn what you can. Why would you want to leave?”

“Harley called me a chicken because I didn’t wanna ditch.”

“Ah… the old ‘chicken’ trick.” She shook her head. “The meanest thing a kid could say…”

“Yeah. It’s mean and dumb…”

We sat in silence for a minute before she spoke again. “Do you want me to call your parents to come get you?”

I nodded and she got up. “Then come on, let’s go to my little office and we can call them there. Sound good?”

I nodded once again and she reached out to help me stand. That’s when I finally noticed that it was dark and I could only see lowlights of black light… her grip tightened and all I could remember was that my head hurt…

—————

The end of the day rolled around and William smiled, giving (Y/N)’s coworkers a hand with a few things as Freddy’s closed for the night. It was a long day, but now it had come to a close. He volunteered to take out the trash for the night as he had… quite a large mess to clean up. Not that he’d tell anyone that, of course. Scott gave him the all clear to do so and William got to work collecting the day's trash. As he cleaned and bid (Y/N)’s coworkers a goodnight, someone stayed back.

_Ah yes… The ginger’s kid.. What’s his name? Liken? Louis?_

“Hey, Luka. Anything I can help you with?”

“You’ve been acting weird today, (Y/N).” The curly haired mechanic replied. “You’re distant… You didn’t really do your job today… You okay?”

_Shit._

“Y-yeah… I just had a weird night last night. I’m still kind of recovering from a few days ago, y’know?”

“I see… Your eyes are different from their usual (E/C) color… Who’s with you?”

_Double shit._

“I just thought I’d wear contacts today. Y’know… spice things up. It’s like dying your hair, only less permanent.” William shrugged. “Not everything has to be a possession thing.”

“R-right…” He narrows his eyes. “Just… keep me in the loop, okay? I wanna know that you’re okay.”

“Don’t worry about me, Luka. I would tell you.”

The ginger smiled and bid her goodnight before leaving the building. Once William made sure they left, he pulled out his stolen phone and looked at the CCTV app he’d created not even a day before. He’d need to disable the cameras that lead from the Laser Tag Lobby to the parking lot in order to transport the bodies to (Y/N)’s Jeep. Maybe he could loop video? Nodding to himself, he did just that, rolling back the cameras and looping a few seconds of uneventful and empty room camera footage before getting to work with getting the rest of the garbage from around the center. It took a bit, but once he brought each of the bags to the front so he could take them outside, he doubled back toward the lobby of the laser tag arena and to his little hidden alcove. A swell of pleasurable joy swept through the man as he took their little corpses and placed them in a big black trash bag. It was heavy, but he was able to sling it over his shoulder and drag it to the front.

Walked back in, he saw Mike picking up garbage bags and looking over to William.

“Need help getting these out to the dumpster?”

_Fucking-_

“That’d be great! Thanks Mister Schmidt.”

Giving William a smile, the old night guard picked up a few bags, propped the doors open and started taking them to the dumpster around back. William rolled his eyes in annoyance and followed.

“How have you enjoyed working for this shitty franchise, Miss (L/N)?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say it’s shitty. I actually really enjoy working here.”

“Heh, If only Emily felt the same. She absolutely hates working as a waitress, but she won’t say anything to me about it.”

“How could you be so sure that she hates what she does?”

“She acts like I did when I started working night shifts for Fazbear Entertainment. Resentment, a bit of fear and mass annoyance.”

“Food service will do that to a person.”

Mike laughed. “I guess so.”

The two threw their trash bags in and around the dumpster and went back for the others in relative silence. After another trip, and the rest of the large trash bags were tossed out. Mike looked to William and smirked.

“Do you need someone to walk you to your car?”

“No thanks. I’m a big strong woman, I can walk myself. Thank you though, Mister Schmidt. Besides, you have work to do, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Have a good night, Miss (L/N).”

“You too, Mister Schmidt.”

The two parted ways and as William got into his stolen vehicle and circled around to the back where the dumpster was.

He parked.

The trunk popped open and the heavy black trash bag was placed inside. The trunk was shut, and the Jeep drove off. He would have gone back to (Y/N)’s apartment, but he had one more thing to do.

It was a godsend that you lived in the desert.


	25. The Truth

The fun center was dark. The main band was backstage for the night and the Pupperazzi were in their lounge. It was a good night for a little walk around the joint. The prize corners lid slowly lifted and the animatronic inside it rose from their ‘nap’. The Security Puppet was there to watch the children and help in the prize corner if needed. Since they were quite tall, the shorter employees appreciated help with reaching the top shelves where the bigger prizes hung. Of course… it wasn’t really the puppet. It was the body of them, but the spirit of another.

Charlie looked around the darkened location. This wasn’t her first rodeo with animatronic possession and she’d gotten quite good at it by now. Given she’s been a spirit for the longest time, she’s had more time to play around with the power of possession and even help newer victims cope with their deaths. It had been years since she had to help anyone though. She liked it like that.  
But then there was this year… that girl that got roped into it all. The one she had to split herself up for. The one she told Lefty to keep safe.

(Y/N).

She was different. She was an adult. A kind adult who took pride in her work. An adult who took the time to learn and made Lefty question returning to being a part of Charlie. Yet she’s gone missing. Lefty hadn’t been able to get back to her side and Charlie had finally taken the time to check it out herself, though… seeing it was nighttime, she doubted she would find anything.

Barely there footfalls whispered to the fun center that Security Puppet was on the hunt. For something. Someone. She hadn’t done this in months. Not since she left the fun center to explore the town. Apparently the staff were freaking out about it due to a possible killing again, but she made sure she wasn’t seen. She made sure of that. Not like any sane person would be wondering the city at night. The only ones were passers by going home from long days at the slots only to go back a few days later via the freeway that passed through the city… so where was the harm?

Something snapped her from her thoughts. Small cries. Childish sniffles from a crying child. If she wasn’t already dead, she would have felt a chill run down her spine.

No… No it couldn’t be..

Not again.

Her barely audible footsteps became faster as she started checking around the fun center, looking under tables and behind arcade machines. When she got to the curtained opening of the laser tag lobby, she stopped. She could see a dim light coming from the back of the room. A small light she knew all too well. She made her way to the back of the room, towards the storage under the stairs…

No.. Please no…

Trembling hands turned the knob and pulled it open. Inside were four little balls of light. If she could cry…  
She gathered the balls with shaking hands and pulled them close to her. Cradling them in the lengthy arms of the puppet as she closed the door once more and made her way back through the fun center. She had to find vessels… the band…

Making her way backstage, she found each on charging stations, powered off for the night. With a heavy heart, she held one right after another towards each main animatronic, allowing them to float into and possess each body. One right after another, they booted up.

“Can you hear me children…? What happened to you all?”

The animatronic band looked to one another and Freddy stepped forward to speak. “I… we can hear you. I’ll try my hardest to explain… Everything’s… really hazy right now.”

“I understand. It can be quite a lot to handle and take in.” She reassured the brown bear. “But I need you to recall what happened? Do you remember anything?”

“The… lady… she…”

Charlie’s eyes widened. No…  
Not (Y/N).

“She told me she needed help… putting together something for her… her co-workers.”

“T-that’s what she told me too.” Bonnie spoke up. “Said it was extra important I didn’t say anything after helping her.”

“Then nothing once we got to the closet under the stairs...”

Charlie could feel a bubbling of anger well up inside of her being. How could she have been so blind?!

“What did she look like?”

“I can answer that if you want.” Foxy piped up. He told the puppet every detail he remembered. The uniform. The color of her hair… even how she wore it that day. What puzzled Charlie though was when he got to the description of her eye color.

Purple?

(Y/N) eye’s weren’t purple. Not from what Lefty had told her and what she’d personally seen.  
Something wasn’t right. Something-

“M-miss? Is everything okay? Are… Are we okay?”

Her anger subsided to that of guilt… sympathy… something that made her heart sink.

“... I’m… I’m sorry to be the one to tell you all this… but you all deserve to know…”

—————

It took a few hours for Charlie to explain things, but once the children were now settled in and shown how to allow the animatronics do their thing in the day and control them at night, she returned the puppet’s body to its rightful place in its box just as the dawn started to bring light back to the city for another day, and left back to the world she was more accustomed to now. The night was over for William… but after what she learned, she was starting to doubt her judgments. Pushing open the glass doors of the building she and many others called home, she looked around. The lights were on. He’d won the night.

Huh… for once.. She didn’t feel upset about it. A pit in her stomach had formed since her talk with the new kids. Something was wrong… she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She heard the others talking happily with one another; She even heard his voice. No. She couldn’t focus on that now, she needed to find her brother. Thankfully he always kept away from the commotion while the others hung out with that awful man…

Yet they called him her name and he responded to it. She’d seen him smile, laugh, sing, play… and the others looked as if it was normal… like he was-

“Oh! Hi Charlotte.” William’s voice rang in her ears and she made eye contact with the man. Her eyes narrowed.

“William…”

“I told you I’m not-”

“I know what you’ve claimed…” She interrupted, raising a hand to silence the man. “Why is it that you’ve claimed that since you met her? Why is it that you’ve acted so differently?”

“I’ve already told you, Charlie.” William replied, an annoyed yet sad expression on his face. “You know that I’ve already told you. I’ve been here for-”

She shook her head. “I know.. I… I’ve heard enough. We… We need my brother.”

“Wait, what?”

She rushed off and disappeared into a side hallway off the normal hallway, footsteps heavier as she ran. The hallway was different then the others. It was smaller and more worn down. There was only one door in the hallway. Always slightly ajar as the lock was broken. It had been broken for quite some time. She stopped and gave a small knock.

“Sammy? May I come in…? We have a problem.”

It took a minute, but the door opened more, showing a golden bear whose eyes were missing. An empty suit in need of an endo-skeleton, only piloted by the child killed within it.

“Charlie…? What’s wrong? What do you mean ‘we have a problem’?”

“Look, I don’t know why, but I think we messed up with the soul revival a few days ago.”

“But we never mess up.” He said, letting his sister in.

“I know, but we did this time.” She paced back and forth a few times before stopping and addressing him again, finally finding the words. “Do you remember how (Y/N) came to this place for the first time? Someone who had no reason to be involved?”

“I’m aware, yes. We separated you into two separate entities in order to keep her safe and so she wouldn’t be able to return, yet she did...” He thought for a moment before it clicked. “Oh no… he was the one who brought her back…”

“And he killed her before himself. He figured out how we kept bringing him back.”

“That’s impossible though! How could he?”

“Someone must have told him during one of his winning nights in exchange for living.” Charlie concluded. “I don’t want to think so, but that’s most likely what happened.”

Samuel sighed and walked over to his sister. “We’ve been punishing the wrong person, haven’t we?”

“Yep.”

“Then what do we do? We can’t just leave a William husk lying around.”

“What if we kept it in one of the back rooms? It’ll most likely stay there until we figure out what to do.”

“Right… and what about William? Where is he?”

“Well. I have bad news and worse news about William.” She looked to him. "Which one do you wanna hear first?"

—————

Heavy footsteps echoed through the leftmost hallway and the children fell into hushed whispers. Those footsteps meant Golden Freddy was coming to address something to the others. Unlike everyone that crowded around you, you remember Elizabeth telling you that Sammy - or rather Golden Freddy - never dropped his animatronic form. It was as if he only saw himself as the bear and nothing more. Next to Charlie, he was someone they all listened to. Someone who protected them and they looked up to.

The limp looking bear walked in, followed closely behind by the puppet. He scanned the kids and pointed to you.

“Come here. Now.”

You looked to the kids, then got up from where you sat on the floor and walked towards the two looming figures. Once in their reach, it all happened so fast. You were grabbed and soon felt a rippling pain stab into you as you felt like you were being ripped apart. You could hear screams from the children as they ran over to try and get you away from Golden Freddy while others stood in shock or held others back. You heard something fall to the floor… but still you stood as his hands placed you back on the ground.

“There… that should do it.” The bear replied, stepping back. “Now… we have a problem, and my sister and I will need your help, (Y/N). I apologize that it took us so long to realize our mistakes.”


End file.
